


Wasteland

by TweakerWolf (Frostbyte)



Category: Fallout: New Vegas, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aromantic Derek, Close Calls, Demisexual Kira, F/F, Gen, I really couldn't decide which character to make her, M/M, Multi, Multiple Partners, POV Alternating, Slow Build, Werewolves, build up to violence, fallout world, first attempt at demisexual, first time OC, mention of rape but no actual rape scenes, more tags as I think of them, multiple groups, so I made her both, split up Lydia's traits to make her twin, tough situations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-08
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-01-18 14:59:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 75,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1432729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frostbyte/pseuds/TweakerWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imagine if you were living in a Wasteland, surviving as best you can after a nuclear war. Scott and Stiles travel together, trying to make the best of cards they were dealt. In another part of the Wastes, Derek tries to come to terms with his past, even managing to gather a few Betas on the way. The story takes place in the New Vegas universe, with some of the video game characters redone to be TW characters. I've tried to include as many as I can, although some I'm having a hard time with finding places for some of them. More details in the notes =)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Nevada

**Author's Note:**

> Setting 1: Stiles and Scott have been friends for years and when their parents died, they took off on their own. It's hard finding work when your brother is a Werewolf, but they do their best to get by. Stiles was working as a courier, trying to make some good money for him and Scott, but then he went and got himself shot. Now he and Scott are on a mission to kill Peter, wanting him to pay. And to make matters worse, it turns out Peter is the wolf that bit Scott all those years ago, so Scott has even more of a reason to want Peter dead.
> 
> Setting 2: Derek is wandering the Wastes, just trying to find a place to live, wanting to escape his past and his family's destruction. Hoping for a fresh start, Derek made his way to the Ca/Nv border, just wanting to escape. He gathers a few Betas along the way that want to settle down somewhere nice as well. But the Legion is becoming a major problem, fighting with the NCR for dominance. Derek and the Betas travel together, trying to overcome all the hardships the Wastes offer, especially if you're a Were.
> 
> Follow these two groups as they try to find a place for themselves in the wastelands and come across various people, making some friends and even more enemies. And find out what happens when the meet each other, can they put aside their differences and band together to destroy their enemies?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow Derek as he first enters what used to be Nevada, and how his very first night goes

Derek approached the buildings, finally crossing into what used to be Nevada. He kept his head down, not looking at any of the NCR soldiers, keeping his posture slouched so no one would think he was dangerous. After a quick glance around Derek made his way into the Outpost Headquarters to check-in, giving Major Knight his name and his status as a pilgrim. Some of the soldiers looked him over, his muscular frame and grumpy demeanor setting them on edge. As soon as he was cleared, Derek nodded his head and left the Outpost; the sun was finally setting so hopefully it would begin to cool down soon. The merchants and other civilians all eyes him as he followed the road, passing by the two statues without much of a glance. He really hated being around humans, even though none of them knew he was a Werewolf, their instincts still screamed to be wary of him. The faster he left them behind, the better; Derek couldn't stand to be around anyone lately.

As he followed the road down, he walked around all the abandoned cars, ears perked to listen for anyone approaching. He was thankful that the road seemed to be empty, all of the travelers were most likely holed up back at the Outpost. As he got further down the mountain, the breeze brought a strong smell of blood to his nose; he breathed in, determining that it wasn't human blood but some other animal. Derek was intrigued, where was the massacre? The scent quickly pulled him off the road, and he traveled along the rocks, following his nose. Within minutes he found himself at the mouth of a cave, the heavy smell of blood wafting over him.

Derek widened his senses, not wanting to be surprised by anything, but he couldn't see much from the entrance. He readied himself to enter, but remembered that there were many areas here that were still emitting radiation; it might be possible that there was some creature in here that had been exposed and died. But it was unlikely, almost every creature out in the Wastes had adapted to the radiation, they shouldn't be affected by it. Still, he glanced down at his dosimeter, making sure that the coast was clear; the badge was still in the safe color so he cautiously entered the cave. Walking slowly to reduce echoes, his eyes scanned everything, looking for the source of the blood. As he walked further in, he saw signs of a struggle, blood splatters along the wall, and small pools here and there. A few more steps and he reached a slight bend in the cave, but as he approached it, he heard a weak growl.

Derek stopped, recognizing the growl, it belonged to another Were; was it hurt or dangerous? He shifted to his second phase, ears shifting and growing, poking out from the top of his head. His tail quickly sprouted, whipping the air behind him as he prepared for a fight; teeth and claws becoming pointed. With a snarl, he jumped around the corner, teeth bared and claws extended. But the sight that met his eyes astounded him, at the back of the cave there was a young Omega covered in blood. Derek pulled back his snarl, the Omega clearly shying away from the more powerful Were in front of him. He glanced around the space, finally finding the source of blood; there was an entire family of slaughtered night stalkers, their corpses littering the floor all around the smaller wolf.

Derek pulled back, returning to his human form, "Can you speak, Omega?"

The wolf whimpered at his harsh tone but nodded his head, not wanting to upset the Alpha.

"What is your name? What happened here?"

"My name is Isaac," the wolf started, keeping his posture submissive. "I needed somewhere to stay and I found this cave. But the night stalkers attacked me, so I fought back. If you're hungry, I'll share with you, please take what you want."

Derek took a small step forward, pausing when Isaac flinched and threw his hands up to protect his head, his tail wrapping around his stomach. "I'm not going to hurt you Isaac, you seem smart enough to know better than to attack me. Are you hurt at all?"

Isaac slowly pulled his arms away from his face, ears perking up as he stared at the Alpha. He ran his fingers through his tail, an old nervous habit, " I had some bites, but they're healing kinda, I'm mostly covered in their blood."

Derek nodded his head, crouching down by one of the night stalkers, "I'm Derek by the way, just came into the area via the outpost up the hill. Are you from around here?"

"Kinda, but not really close by, I've wandered a bit, hiding out from my old gang, the Scorpions. Turns out they aren't really fans of Werewolves, so once I got turned, they tried to kill me. Hell, my father is the one that turned me in, druggie bastard!" Isaac spat, hands curling into fists.

"What do you say we get a fire going, we can cook up the night stalkers for food, and wash your shirt. You'll be killed instantly if you go near a town with that much blood on you," Derek stated, standing up once more. "Go ahead and wash off in that small trickle of water, I'll gather some brush for the fire, I'll be right back."

Isaac watched at the Alpha walked away, amazed by his ability to hide his ears and tail, he looked perfectly human. He looked down at his blonde tail, scowling, if it weren't for that, no one would have found out about his change. Standing up, he pulled his grey long-sleeved shirt over his head and dropped it in the water, soaking it as best he could. By the time Derek came back, he had washed most of the blood out, rubbing the fabric against itself to scrub it, before wringing it out and laying it over a rock to dry. He watched as Derek stacked the dry materials together before pulling out a lighter and catching it all on fire.

It wasn't long before Isaac was drawn to the warmth of the flames, even though he generally shied away from fire, his father hadn't been to kind with it. He continued to watch, crouched by the fire, as Derek shrugged off his pack and pulled over the largest night stalker. Then he brought out his claws, using them to tear apart the meat; after separating the various portions of meat, he skewered the largest pieces on sticks and held them over the flames. It was awhile before the meat was done, their partial human stomach still couldn't process completely raw meat. But as soon as it was done, Derek slowly handed Isaac one of the sticks, not wanting to startle to young Were with sudden movement. He smiled as he watched Isaac tear into the meat, he must be hungry; Derek decided to start cooking the other pieces as well, easily sliding the other cooked piece off into his lap and putting another piece on to cook.

They ate in silence, both of them focusing on the food and warmth; as soon as they finished off the stalker, Isaac laid down, curling in on himself to be as small as possible. Now that he had a full stomach, he was asleep within moments; Isaac couldn't remember the last time he had eaten that much food in one sitting. Derek sat for awhile, letting Isaac fall deeper into sleep before he finally stood up. He went and grabbed the damp shirt, dropping it closer to the fire so it would dry faster. Then he tossed on some more brush before lying back, hands tucked under his head to serve as a pillow. Sleep didn't come to him for some time, he just lie there, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about his family.

After a few hours of sleep, Derek woke as the sun started to rise, glad that the smoke had filtered out of the cave while he slept. He really hated the smell of smoke and burning wood, but he needed the fire to keep him and Isaac warm. At the thought of Isaac, he sat up and checked on the Omega wolf; he was still asleep and Derek was glad that he hadn't disappeared overnight. Derek stretched before reaching into his bag to pull out an old hoodie he had found; now he's glad he kept it.

"Hey, Isaac, wake up," Derek said, tossing his now dry shirt at him.

Isaac shot up and covered his face with his hands, crying out, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep in so late. Sorry, sorry-"

"Whoa, Isaac, calm down, calm down," Derek said, attempting to soothe him, lowering his voice as best he could.

Isaac blinked as his brain registered the voice, realizing it wasn't his father's. He carefully peeked out from behind his hands, catching sight of the Alpha from last night. Lowering his hands, he bit his lip, looking ashamed; he didn't look Derek in the eye, instead he was staring down at the bloody floor.

"Everything okay Isaac? I didn't mean to startle you."

"Yea, it's fine, I'm just used to rude wake up calls is all. I keep forgetting that I'm not with my dad anymore," Isaac whispered, afraid to speak too loudly and offend the Alpha.

"Well, go ahead and get dressed, the sun's coming up and it's better to start before the day gets too hot."

Isaac mutely nodded his head, reaching down and picking up the shirt he had dropped, quickly pulling it over his lean torso. Derek had tried not to stare at Isaac's battered body, he was severely malnourished; the fact that there were still purple bruises tattooing his skin told Derek that he needed a lot of care. He hadn't looked too closely the night before, but now, in the low light, he could see the bites from the night stalkers. Werewolves are supposed to heal quickly; there was no reason for him to still be bruised like that.

"So, uh, I was wondering, how would you like to accompany me Isaac? I'm new to the area and you've traveled around for a bit right? Maybe you could help me stay away from all the troublesome areas yea?" Derek proposed, adding on, "If you want to of course."

The Omega's head shot up, eyes searching Derek's face for any sign of a joke. He'd love to be traveling with someone, as long as they weren't anything like his dad; he felt vulnerable when he was alone.

"That'd be cool. Maybe you could teach me more about being a wolf?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course, I may not be the one who turned you, but I'm an Alpha and I won't let you go untrained."

Isaac nodded slowly, "So does that mean I'll be your Beta now?"

"If you want to be, I won't force you to join me, but we can be Pack if you want, we'll both be a lot stronger," Derek explained, wanting Isaac to make his own decision; he was not going to be like Caesar.

"I think that's a good idea, and you seem strong, so that's even better for me."

"Good, here, take this then," Derek said, tossing the old white hoodie over to his new Beta. "It will help keep you a bit warm in the morning chill, sorry it doesn't have any sleeves though. But the hood will help keep your ears hidden until you learn how to control it."

Isaac stared at Derek, mouth agape, "I can control that too? That isn't just an Alpha thing?"

Derek shook his head, "Any wolf can learn to control it, but it can take some time; we have to find out what helps calm you down and what triggers you to attack. Once we learn that we can start the process of controlling the change."

"Awesome, that would be so helpful, why couldn't I have learned that earlier," Isaac moaned, thinking back on his last month. "Oh, wait, I forgot this," Isaac called out, turning back to the wall of the cave. Derek watched as he picked up a long scarf and wrapped it around his neck before pulling the hood back over his head.

"Where did that come from?"

"I got it from this really nice lady in Goodsprings, her name was Melissa, she's the bartender there. One night she heard me crawling around out back and instead of chasing me off, she welcomed me. She gave me a little bit of spare food and let me sleep there for the night. She was the first person to ever be nice to me."

"And she gave you a scarf?"

"Yea, before I left, she told me to take it, so that way I'd think of her if I was ever in trouble. I wanted to stay, but I don't think the other townspeople really liked me," Isaac explained. "So I said good bye and left, haven't really stayed in one spot too long since the Scorpions leader tried to kill me."

The pair climbed out of the cave, Isaac blinking in the light; Derek remembered the sunglasses, pulling one pair out of his leather jacket to put on. Then he swung his pack around to search for the spare pair he kept, hoping that they hadn't gotten broken. As they reached the road, he finally pulled out the other pair, handing them over to the Beta.

"These help a lot, so now we can travel better during the day, I have a tendency to hoard these, because I can go through a lot. So keep your eyes peeled for some."

"Will do, thanks," Isaac promised, sighing in relief as the tinted glasses provided some protection to his sensitive eyes.

"Well, why don't we make our way to Goodsprings, I'd love to meet Melissa, if you don't mind going back."

"I'd love to see her again, and thank her properly. That sounds like a great place to start," Isaac agreed, tail wagging just a bit.

Derek gently clapped Isaac on his shoulder, he had no idea how far Goodsprings was, but they'd spend that time getting to know each other a little better. A Pack couldn't grow together if they didn't trust one another, and Derek could feel Isaac's fear, it was coming off him in waves. But Derek was patient; he would work with Isaac and encourage his inner wolf to become stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it isssssss, my newest story, much thanks to my buddy [DisputedJustice](http://disputedjustice.tumblr.com/) on tumblr, toooootally gave me the idea. Like I stated in the summary, this is based around the Fallout: New Vegas game, it's the one that I know the best. I'll be introducing A LOT of the TW characters, but I don't quite have a role for all of them, but I've done my best. I have soooo many ideas for the characters as they progress through the storyline. Please let me know what you think! I'm so excited for this story, it's going to be my most action packed story yet, and probably my darkest -hence the rating- Thanks for reading =D


	2. Waking Up In Goodsprings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles wakes up after getting shot in the head, Dr. Deaton has patched him up pretty good though so the pair go through town and meet Sunny Smiles.

*The next day*

Stiles groaned and opened his eyes, squinting at the bright light; he clumsily raised his arm to try and block out the light. He shifted, attempting to sit up, and shield his eyes at the same time, but a pair of hands quickly pressed down on his shoulders.

"Easy there kiddo, don't sit up quite yet. You've been out for awhile, your friend here has been worried sick about you," a disembodied voice said to him.

Stiles blinked a few more times, letting his eyes adjust to the light hanging over him; a shadow slowly came into focus. A brown-skinned man was standing over him, a concerned look on his face. Then, over the man's shoulder, another face appeared; this one made him smile.

"Hey Scott," he rasped, his throat dry.

The two of them helped him to slowly sit up, Stiles shaking his head as he tried to clear away the dizzy spell that hit him. But that only made it worse, his world spun and he tilted over on his side, Scott barely managing to keep him on the bed.

"Ow, holy crap, what's going on man?" he asked his buddy, desperately wishing he had some water.

"Well, first, let Dr. Alan finish checking you out," Scott replied.

"Hi, Dr. Alan Deaton, but most folks call me Doc. I just want to run a few final tests on you to make sure you're alright. You took quite the hit to the head you know." Deaton handed the boy a mirror, "Tell me, do you look like yourself?"

Stiles grimaced as he reached out the grasp the mirror, arms still giving him a sluggish response; he looked in the mirror, turning from side to side. He counted the moles on the side of his face, "Yea, looks like I'm all here."

"Good, good, I did my best to patch you up, although that nasty scar above your eye isn't going to go away any time soon."

Stiles sighed, looking into the mirror again. He supposed he should be thankful he was even alive, but as he looked at the angry red scar spread over his temple, fading out to a dark pink over his left eye, he just couldn't help but feel frustrated. "Well, consider that just one more reason for the ladies to run away from me."

"Oh come on dude, it definitely gives you a hint of danger. If you can get shot in the head and survive, you're doing really well," Scott said, attempting to cheer his best friend up.

Stiles just gave him a rueful smile, barely nodding his head; it gave him a real dangerous look alright, kinda on the psychotic side if he were to tell the truth. But at the end of the day, it was just one more scar to add to the collection, he had plenty of those. Sometimes he really envied Scott's healing abilities, that asshole didn't have a single scar. There were times when that healing ability had almost gotten them into trouble though; a noticeable lack of scars in the Wastes was a dead giveaway for some people.

"Do you feel up to standing? I'm hoping to give you a strength and reflex test, we have to make sure your brain is functioning alright." When Stiles nodded his head, Deaton continued, "Come this way then, this machine here will test everything out for you."

Scott came over so Stiles had someone to lean on, the pair carefully making their way over to the machine the doctor was leading them towards. He held onto the handle, barely registering what the machine wanted him to do, but it seems he passed because the Doc said he was doing just fine. Stiles was ready to get out of here, he had someone to go track down and kill; he moved towards what he thought was the door. But the doctor stepped in his way.

"Now, you can't leave just yet, I've got some other questions to ask you, come sit on the couch. Just a few questions and then you'll be free to go, I promise."

He just groaned but allowed Scott to lead him towards the couch; he was thankful to be sitting again though. Apparently Deaton wanted to run a word association test, although Stiles had no idea what that would prove. But he played along, calling out the first thing that came to mind to each of Deaton's words. Whatever the outcome was, Deaton was pleased and stood up, walking them to the door.

"Alright, here's all your stuff back, sorry if the clothes are bloody, I had a hard time trying to wash it all out. But it's better than being in your underwear right? And I've also got this 9mm handgun, Scott said it was yours; here's the ammo. And a few caps as well. I think that's everything, you boys be careful now, the Wastes are pretty dangerous."

"Thanks for patching me up Doc, although I have to ask, what exactly happened out there, why am I not dead?" Stiles asked, holstering his gun and putting the rest back into Scott's pack. He really needed to find his own pack, he felt bad making Scott carry everything.

"Well, I think Scott knows more than me, he was there after all. But the bullet entered your temple and roamed for a bit, honestly, I have no idea how you survived. Thankfully you passed all the tests so I didn't mess anything up when I dug the bullet out. The brain is a tricky organ, we don't know too much about it, so count your blessing and don't think about it too much."

"Well, that's good enough for me, as long as you say I'm good to go, I'm not going to question it," Stiles told him, turning to grab the door handle. "Oh, wait, where's my Sniper Rifle Doc? I can't leave without that."

"Uhh, about that Stiles," Scott said, looking up at the ceiling. "Peter stole it. Well, maybe one of the Khans did, I'm not sure."

"What?! God, that thing was expensive! Fucking Peter," Stiles yelled, slamming the door with the side of his fist.

"It's fine Stiles, we'll get you another one, don't worry about it. Come on, let's go find something to drink."

"Yea, yea, sure. While we're here, did you happen to see which way Peter went?"

"No, I was sound asleep until Scott and Victor knocked on my door. You can either ask him if he knows anything or look for Melissa. She's the bartender, so if there is any gossip going around about the man that shot you, she'd know. Be careful boys, maybe go talk with Sunny Smiles, she should be able to help you out, give you another gun or something," Deaton warned one last time as they opened the door.

"Thanks again Doc, I'll be sure to come back if I need any more patching up," Stiles repeated, waving to the kind man.

The boys shielded their eyes as they stepped outside, the afternoon sun shining brightly. From the porch they could make out the bar, so they decided to head there first. The pair made their way to the bar, Stiles was flexing his fingers, making sure he still had control of everything and Scott was looking around at the small town.

"Still can't believe Peter stole the rifle, what a dick!" Stiles murmured, kicking at a rock on the road.

"Well, he's also a dick for shooting you in the face and leaving you to die," Scott replied.

Stiles just scowled at his almost brother, pushing open the door for Scott to enter; they blinked to help their eyes adjust to the dark again. Before they even took a step, there was a large dog in front of them, barking; Stiles stepped forward, pushing Scott behind him.

"Cheyenne, stay," they heard a voice call out. "Sorry about that, she's wary of strangers, but she won't attack unless I tell her to. Sunny Smiles, nice to meet you."

"Uh, hey," Stiles started, taken back by her bright attitude. "Doc mentioned coming to talk to you, lucky us running into you so soon."

"Good ol' Doc, he's a miracle worker, even if he doesn't admit to it. What can I do you for boys?"

Scott spoke up then, still keeping his distance from the dog, "He said that you could help up, I'm assuming he meant with some kind of training, maybe have a spare gun lying around that we could use?"

"Sure, I can give you guys a few pointers, meet me around back of the saloon," she told them, waving her arm as she turned away.

Scott and Stiles looked at each other and shrugged, might as well see what she had to show them, it couldn't hurt. So they turned and followed her out back, silently cursing the sun once more. They watched as she set up some bottles along the low fence, wondering what she had in mind. After she had set up about 6 bottles, she came over the them and handed Stiles a Varmint Rifle and some spare rounds.

"See if you can't shoot some of them bottles off the fence," she offered, wanting to see how good of shots they were.

Stiles smirked as he took the gun, it wasn't his Sniper Rifle, but it would do. He crouched, knowing it would give him more stability and tucked the butt of the rifle into his shoulder. Stiles let out a slow calming breath as he peered down the sights, lining them up with the first bottle. After another breath, he pressed down on the trigger, smiling as he watched it explode. He quickly dispatched two more of the bottles, getting both on the first shot; he stood and offered Scott the rifle.

Scott shook his head, "No, no, no, you know I'm crap with a gun. I don't feel like wasting the ammo, you do well enough for the both of us."

"Very nicely done," Sunny praised.

Stiles shrugged, "Yea, I've spent a lot of hours with my Sniper Rifle, shooting bottles off a fence isn't too difficult."

Sunny gave him an appraising look, she liked a guy that knew how to shoot. "Well, if you want, you can come with me to kill off some Geckos. They keep getting into our water supply, I usually wipe them out every other day. It will be good practice, the Varmint Rifle handles different from the Sniper Rifle."

"That sounds like a good idea, practice is always a good idea, you game Scott?"

Scott nodded his head, he wanted to make sure that Stiles was really okay, something more than just a couple of bottles on a fence. He didn't really want to say anything and make Stiles worry, or try too hard and end up pushing himself too far. Stiles handed him the handgun, preferring that Scott had some sort of gun on him if they were going to hunting Geckos.

"Alright, lead the way," Stiles smiled.

Sunny took off, heading south, Cheyenne following behind her, then Scott and Stiles bringing up the rear. As they passed through the brush, Scott noticed that Cheyenne kept falling back, getting closer to him. Her hackles were raised, she clearly sensed his Werewolf genes, but she wasn't growling at him. Scott did his best to ignore her, not wanting to raise Sunny's suspicions, but luckily Cheyenne eventually seemed to accept his presence and ran back ahead to be with her owner.

"Okay, the first well is right around the corner here, there shouldn't be too many Geckos here, but let's try to sneak up on them," Sunny said, crouching down.

They three of them crept around the edge of the rock, Scott in the back with the pistol; he wasn't going to shoot unless he had too. Between Sunny and Stiles, he was fairly confident that he wasn't needed here. Scott watched as the pair set up their shots, lining up their sights with the Geckos. They shot at the same time, both Geckos dropping to the ground.

"Alright! That was easy, do you want to help me clear out the other 2 wells too? I should be able to scrounge up some caps for the trouble."

"Sounds good, we could always use some extra caps," Stiles replied, standing up and offering Sunny a hand.

They followed her further south, quickly coming up to the second well. Three large Geckos came charging at them, spotting them before they had time to hide. Stiles raised his rifle, taking steps backwards as he shot; he really didn't want to go back to Deaton so soon. He cried out a warning when Cheyenne jumped into the fray, unable to shoot with her so close. But she surprised him by tucking low to the ground and then springing up as the last Gecko lunged; launching herself right at its throat. Stiles kept the rifle up, incase Cheyenne got clear but she had the Gecko pinned and ripped out its throat in under a minute.

"Dear God, I thought I was going to shoot her," Stiles said, finally lowering the gun.

"I'm glad you didn't, she felt that Gecko got a little too close to me and stepped in. She's not used to there being a second shooter; we have a good understanding of each other," Sunny explained, patted her dog's head lovingly.

After a quick breather, they continued onto the final well; as the group got closer, Stiles and Scott heard someone calling out for help. They looked at each other for a moment, eyes wide, before they tore off, leaving Sunny behind. When the well came into view, they saw a woman surrounded by three Geckos. Scott raised the pistol, but was too afraid of hitting the woman to shoot, so instead he ran forward, trying to get the Geckos' attention. If he managed to pull the Geckos towards him, Stiles would be more comfortable shooting.

Stiles crouched, steadying his aim while Scott ran forward, he really needed to drag the Geckos away from the lady; he'd never forgive himself if he shot her on accident. He heard Scott let out a low growl, silently cheering for his friend as that successfully drew their attention away from her. He quickly fired off a few rounds, taking the first Gecko down.

Sunny skidded to a stop next to him, pulling up her own gun and firing, catching one of the remaining Geckos in the leg. When it stumbled, Scott pulled out the pistol and shot it in the head, while Stiles dispatched the final Gecko. Stiles sagged to the ground, relieved that the woman was okay. She ran over to them, wanting to thank the teens.

"Holey Moley, if you hadn't come when you did, I'd be a goner, thank you! Here, I don't have much, but take this water, you look thirsty," the woman said, handing both of them a couple bottles of purified water.

"Oh, you are a Godsend," Stiles moaned, opening up the bottle and drinking from it. He'd wanted water since he woke up.

"You alright Ann?" Sunny asked.

"Yes, thanks to these two young men, they must have heard me calling for help and ran right over."

"Good, be careful next time, these critters like to show up ever few days, so I wouldn't come here alone. It's always safer to travel in numbers."

The lady named Ann nodded her head, "I know, you tell us that all the time, but I didn't want to wait for Lou to get home. But I will next time, that's for sure."

She thanked the boys one last time before leaving, probably heading back home, where it was safe. The boys breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Sunny, seeing her shaking her head.

"I tell these guys all the time, it's not safe to head out on your own, not even to the wells; hopefully now they'll get it. That got rough, but I'm glad you two heard her calling out and rushed over here. She might not have made it otherwise. Here's the caps I promised you for helping out. I've only got one more thing to teach you, if you're interested, I know how to make some basic recipes, if you want to learn?"

Scott quickly tucked the 50 caps into the pack while Stiles nodded his head, "Yea, learning stuff like that is real helpful, what do we need to get?"

"I'll teach you how to make a healing powder, that seems to be the most useful, search around and see if you can find some Broc Flower and Xander Root, then meet me over there at the campfire," she said, pointing down the slope.

"Alright, cool, we'll be back soon!" Scott promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, second installment is here! This time it's from Stiles/Scott's PoV. Tell me what you think so far! I think Stiles makes a good Courier, AND because this is a more adult fic, I can use all the cursing I want! Because we all know that a pair of Teens in the Wastelands aren't going to hold back XD It just seems to punctuate their stronger feelings. Up next is more than likely going to be a Derek/Isaac scene, I want to skip between the two regularly so one doesn't get further behind. Hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Isaac's Health

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek has to help Isaac through an emergency, will Isaac be okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A guest on FF mentioned that I should explain what the various creatures look like, and I realized that hey were right. I took for granted that the people reading this story would be completely familiar with the Fallout: New Vegas game and it's creatures, which isn't so. To fix this, at the end of this chapter, I'm going to include descriptions of the Geckos and the Night Stalkers, for past reference and in the future, I will be sure to give a description of the creature as they come upon it. Thank you Guest, for pointing that out to me, I was just so excited to write this story, I didn't think about the readers that are here for the TW and not necessarily the Fallout! The night stalkers are talked about again in this chapter, I've added partial descriptions, but a full description is at the bottom. I couldn't find a way to fit in a full description since they were already introduced AND dead... But I do describe the Radscorpions in this chapter.

*Meanwhile*

Derek was leaning against the cool side of the mountain, the pair hadn't traveled far at all; in fact they even returned to the same cave that night to sleep in. Turns out, Isaac was doing a lot worse that Derek realized. As soon as the day started to heat up, Isaac started lagging behind, his legs were unable to hold him up. So Derek ended up carrying the young Beta back to the crescent shaped cave. Isaac curled up on himself, trying to calm his body; he kept whimpering, his body felt like it was on fire, consuming itself from within.

The fire roared to life, Derek quickly cutting up another of the night stalkers to cook up; Isaac needed food. He tossed away the scaled head and tail, they didn't contain enough meat; instead he cut into the lean furry body, going for the legs first. Isaac's body was trying to find energy to replace the lost cells with, but he was so malnourished it was feeding on his muscles instead. It turned into a viscous cycle and Derek needed to fix it. He could tell that Isaac had no idea what was happening to him, he had no experience with this stuff; the only reason Derek knew was because his mother had insisted that he learn everything about Werewolf anatomy and physiology. Thank God for that right now!

He cursed the meat for taking so long, as soon as the edges were dark enough, he pulled it off the stick and ran over to Isaac. Derek carefully pried his claws away from his face, the Beta's muscles were completely locked up.

"Come on Isaac, I need you to eat this, right now, it will help. Fight against the stiffness, come on kiddo," Derek said as he pried his jaws open.

As soon as the meat hit his tongue, Isaac started to tear into the meat, eyes shining brightly at the nourishment. Derek flew back to the fire and started cooking more, cutting them into thinner pieces so they'd cook faster. His heart rate finally started to slow down as Isaac ate three more thin pieces and wasn't whining as deeply. He could see his muscles loosening up, Isaac was slowly uncurling, trying to avoid stressing his muscles as he went.

"How are you feeling now Isaac? Has the burning stopped?" Derek asked, face full of concern.

Isaac just nodded his head, mouth still full, but Derek could hear his heartbeat slowing down to an almost normal cadence. The Alpha motioned for him to get closer to the fire, the heat would help get rid of the shivering. Once he was assured that the worst was over, Derek pulled a bottle of Nuka Cola out of his bag and handed it over, knowing the sugar was the best thing.

"What happened?" Isaac asked after he took a few sips, eyes still amber.

Derek sat down on the cold floor, unsure of how to really explain it to someone that had so little knowledge. "Well, for starters, you're extremely malnourished, I noticed it this morning when you were getting dressed. You have a lot of bruises that haven't healed, and then the night stalker bites compounded on top of that. As I'm sure you're aware that Werewolves are known for their healing capabilities, but in order for our bodies to do that, we have to consume fuel, I.E. food.

"In a typical situation it's never a problem for us, and the more extensive the damage, the slower we heal, to conserve our fuel. So we'll protect ourselves from immediate danger and death and then slow down if the injured area was over a large percentage of our bodies. With me so far?"

"Yea, I think so. You're basically saying that because my life sucked and I hardly got enough food as a human, my wolf also didn't have enough food to heal me. But shouldn't that mean my body just decides not to heal itself?"

Derek nodded his head, "Usually you'd be correct, hence why your bruises weren't fading away, they weren't very serious. And the night stalker bites healed enough to stop the bleeding. And normally you would have continued to be alright, if it were regular coyote bites, but the night stalkers have venom."

Isaac eyes widened, "Shit, I didn't know that, I didn't even think about the rattles on their tails. Fuck."

"Yea, so the food we ate last night helped, but it wasn't enough to flush all the venom out, and as a delayed effect, when you went out in the sun, your body shut down. And that burning sensation you felt? It was your body beginning to break down your muscles to try and use as a fuel source, which led to your body trying to heal that damage. I'm sure you can see how much of a problem this is."

Isaac nodded his head slowly, eyes wide in fear, "What now? I can still feel my body trying to stitch itself together. I don't want the cycle to start again."

"It won't be as bad, by now the venom is out of your system, which was the priority. So all that's left is to heal the rest of your body that got torn apart, so we'll be relaxing here the rest of the day at least, we might start a slow trek at night, real slow pace though. Drink your Cola, the sugar will help," Derek reminded him.

After a few moments of silence, Isaac turned to his Alpha, "Thank you Derek, for taking care of me. You didn't have to but you did."

Derek's eyes shot up to meet Isaac's, was that how he really felt? He thought Derek was going to abandon him, at the first sign of a problem. He tried not to scowl, knowing that Isaac would take it the wrong way; this was definitely new to him.

"You've bonded your wolf to mine, we're Pack, and Pack doesn't abandon each other when lives are at stake. I'm your Alpha now, that means you are my responsibility, good and bad; the fact that you decided to trust me, and follow me, means more than you could ever know. You can trust me with your life Isaac, because I'll protect you before I protect myself."

As Isaac listened to Derek's speech, unbidden tears sprang from his eyes; no one had ever cared about his life before. Not even himself if he were to be honest; he hastily wiped at his eyes, what a great time to look like a fool.

Derek gave him a small smile, realizing that the teen was touched by his words, and no doubt he was starting to feel the bond between them grow, even if he didn't know how to recognize it just yet.

"I'm going to go dump these small night stalkers outside and get us something else to eat, scorpions are actually really good as fuel food. If I can manage to find one; stay here and rest. Do you want another Cola to help?"

Isaac thought for a moment before shaking his head, he was feeling pretty calm and he didn't want to do anything to make it worse while Derek was gone. Derek shrugged and pulled one out anyways, telling him to go ahead and drink it if the burning sensation returned. He continued to stretch out his muscles bit by bit as Derek took all the carcasses out of the cave.

It wasn't long before Isaac got bored, just sitting there in the cave with nothing to do, so he wandered closer to the opening, seeking some light. He watched as the slight wind blew tumbleweeds around the ground outside, knowing what they felt like to forever be wandering. It wasn't long before he could feel his stomach started to gurgle again so he popped open the soda and took a few sips. Then an idea hit him, and he pulled off the hoodie and his shirt, looking at his arms and watching the small bites heal, leaving just the faintest of scabs. Then he watched as his bruises slowly lighten from a deep burgundy to a fair purple/blue color. Isaac couldn't help but feel fascinated, he had never seen his body heal like this before, he was usually too worried with just finding safety than healing. Maybe with Derek to show him the ropes, being a Were wouldn't be that bad after all.

Derek pulled the coyote hybrids away from the cave, not wanting any other creatures to follow the scent back and give Isaac trouble. He left the bodies out in the open and backtracked, climbing up on some large boulders about 20 meters away. From there he looked all around, hoping the find some radscorpions, the larger the better. Of course, he didn't see any in the vicinity which made him growl in frustration; Derek jumped off the rocks and started to wander the flat land in search of his prey. He spent a good 30 minutes searching, just about ready to give up since he didn't want to be away from Isaac for too long. Knowing him, the poor kid would probably start to think that Derek left him behind. Turning back the way he came, Derek hurried back at an easy jog, only stopping as he neared the dead stalkers he had left behind. A giant radscorpion was feeding on the stalkers, it was a good 6 feet long and its stinger was raised maybe 5 feet in the air. The Alpha crept towards the monster, wanting to get as close as possible while undetected; he really didn't want to get caught in those massive front claws (there were at LEAST a foot thick!).

When he was just a few feet away when he launched himself at the monster's tail, unsheathing his claws in one smooth motion; as he landed on its tail, holding on tight with his legs while he used his claws to pierce the base of the stinger, slicing it off and tossing it away. Now that the biggest threat was gone, Derek jumped onto its back, trying to stand steady as the radscorpion jerked around in pain. He knelt down on its back, lowering his center of gravity to maintain balance; as the monster continued to buck around, he slammed his claws into its head, effectively blinding the creature. The scorpion lashed out with its pinchers, which Derek easily avoided before digging his claws further into the soft body, finding the brain and destroying it. The scorpion fell to the ground, legs going limp underneath it, but Derek waiting a few moments before jumping to the ground, just in case. Now that he had a radscorpion, he needed to return to Isaac, this would go a long way for his healing.

Isaac watched as the sun continued to float across the sky, starting to worry if maybe Derek was in trouble. He had seen a radscorpion before and it looked very dangerous, what if Derek ran into a group of them? The Beta had finished the soda while he'd been waiting and he was feeling the sugar start to wear off; he wanted to fidget but his muscles were still protesting too much movement.

Just then he saw a dark figure out in the desert, slowly coming closer to the cave; he watched it, hoping it was Derek and not someone else. As the wind shifted, he sniffed, finally catching Derek's scent, as well as the smell of another creature. He stood up and moved to stand right at the cave entrance, so that way Derek will know he's okay. When Derek came closer, Isaac's jaw dropped as he realized the size of the scorpion Derek was dragging behind him; he'd never seen one that big before. Isaac quickly stepped aside so Derek could drag it into the cave, and he continued to stare at the Alpha, how had he killed it? And how did he manage to make it look so light? There was no way Isaac could have move something that heavy.

"Where did you find that thing?"

"Out in the desert, I had a hell of a time really, there weren't any to be found, that's what took so long. So I wandered around for awhile and just when I had given up and turned back, I saw this beast feeding off the night stalker carcasses. It was great for me, that meant I was able to sneak up on it. Ready to eat?"

"Oh yea, definitely; I finished off the other Cola, and I've healed a lot, look," Isaac answered, lifting up his shirt to show Derek his bruises. "My muscles are still really sore though and weak, but no burning so it's okay."

Derek nodded his head, happy that the Beta was doing much better, he shouldn't have pushed him to leave this morning. He really should have known he wasn't ready, especially after he saw all those bruises when he got dressed this morning. After setting down the scorpion's tail, he pulled a machete out from his pack, there was no way he'd manage to split this up without making a mess. Isaac sat back and watched as Derek sliced up the giant meal, throwing it over the fire, shell and all.

"The shell is tough, but it's good for you, well it's good for us, I'm not sure about Humans. And they are a great source of protein so after a few pieces you should be fully healed, and we'll have enough left over to snack on while we travel. It's always a good idea to keep some bug meat on you if you ever find any, great for health in a pinch," Derek easily explained to his Beta as they watch the meat cook.

When it was all done, Isaac took a tentative bite, not really feeling the bugs for dinner thing, but it turned out to be pretty good. The shell was a bit tough, but with his sharp teeth he was able to tear it apart quick enough. After just a few bites he could feel warmth flowing through his body, something he had come to recognize as his body healing. This warmth was welcomed, unlike the very painful burning sensation from earlier.

"You were right, well, not that I doubted you but I feel so much better already. You're a great Alpha, I'm sure some people wouldn't have given me a second glance. Hell, some Alphas might have even tried to kill a weakling like me, but you decided not to for some reason."

Derek looked up at the Beta, thinking back on when they first met last night, "I couldn't kill you, it would have been a pointless death. There has been enough of that in my life, I don't take innocent lives if I can help it. I realized that you must have been abandoned by your Alpha, and for some reason that just struck a chord in me. Honestly I surprised myself, I didn't figure I'd be taking in any companions, or even build a pack here. At least not so soon, but when I saw you, I just couldn't leave you here on your own. I'm glad you decided to join me though."

Isaac smiled at Derek, "Why would I say no? I don't have a death wish, I know that I'd be so much better off with you. Hell, you couldn't be any worse than my dad or the Scorpion Gang, I had nothing to lose."

The pair finished eating in silence, each lost in thought about their pasts. Derek sat on the floor, looking at Isaac; he decided that they'd travel after the sun was setting, it would be better on Isaac's body that way. He really wanted to get away from the Outpost up the hill, so the sooner they moved on the better. Isaac agreed readily when Derek told him the plan, he was eager to move on as well, and traveling at night seemed like a good idea. Derek made him promise to mention if he started feeling weak at all and they'd find somewhere to stop for the night, but Isaac insisted he was feeling a lot better. So they sat around and relaxed for the rest of the day, waiting for the evening to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eckos: Large reptiles, approx. 5 ft tall, the general Gecko is a purple color with orange eyes and a pair of fins along the back of their heads. They live in packs and will immediately run at you, mouth open upon seeing the character. Very sharp teeth and claws, love to jump at the character and bite. There are other variations which will be described as they are found in the story.
> 
> Night Stalkers: a science experiment, they are literally a combination of coyotes and rattlesnakes that were spliced together in a lab. They are of average coyote height, but have a reptilian heads, flat like a snake's. They also have a snake like tail with a rattle on the end, which alert you to their presence. Usually found with a few adult stalkers and a few young stalkers that are slightly smaller in size. They have a forked tongue and have venom just like the rattlesnake, so they are dangerous.
> 
> Radscorpions: Large irradiated scorpions, the smallest scorpions are described as about the size o a bighorner calf, and those are the little ones! The giant ones can be like 5 times the size of the small ones and are a huge problem due to their hard exoskeleton which protects them from most attacks. The stinger alone is about the size of a person's head, so it's best to avoid them =P
> 
> I'm thinking for future reference, I'll always include a detailed description of the creatures at the bottom of the chapter, which give all the details for a fuller picture. For me, it's hard to include ALL of the details in one setting while still keeping the story going smoothly. So if you prefer, you can always come check the bottom of the chapter for the new creature description and then read through with that in mind. Hope this helps!


	4. Ingredients and Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Scott spend time around Goodsprings looking for those ingredients for Sunny. Then Isaac and Derek finally get out of the cave and on the road, and Derek takes the time to teach Isaac a few things.  
> (Hey, both parties in one chapter, YAY).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would just like to take the time to thank [lordkirashand](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1641443/) for helping me brainstorm some ideas and character placement. They read my first chapter and immediately came to me with some ideas. I can't wait to implement them in later chapters! Hope everyone is continuing to enjoy this story!

*Back in Goodsprings*

The pair headed back towards town, keeping their eyes peeled for the ingredients; but they realized the town had a lot of nooks and crannies that the items could be. They walked slowly, not wanting to accidently walk by one; as they got closer to the Saloon, they realized it would probably be easier to ask someone where they could find their two ingredients. Stiles looked around, but there weren't many people wandering around outside. They decided to head to the General Store and see if the Owner had any in stock. As they walked by, they saw an older man sitting on the porch of the Saloon and figured they'd start there if they had no luck next door.

Stiles's heart sank as they entered the small store, there wasn't much on the shelves, but it couldn't hurt to ask anyways. Scott looked through everything, just in case there was something there for them to pick up while Stiles just went up to the register to ask.

"Can I help you Sir?"

"I was hoping you'd have some Broc flower and/or Xander Root?" Stiles asked, hopeful lilt to his voice.

The owner's face fell, "No, I don't go out if I don't need to, so what I get is things people sell me to resell to others. Sorry I don't have any of that, but maybe there is something else here that you'd like to buy?"

Stiles started to shake his head but then Scott came up, holding a shovel, "This please."

He got a weird look from Stiles but easy handed over the caps and propped the shovel against his shoulder. He thanked the owner and they left the store, heading over to the Saloon to talk with the man sitting out front.

"Hey there, could you tell us where we could find some Xander Root, or Broc Flower? Sunny asked us to pick some up," Scott asked, using his puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not sure about the Broc Flower, but you can find the Xander Root over by the old school. But be careful, there are some critters over there you'll want to watch out for. But inside is that darn safe that I've been trying to crack open. Maybe you boys will be able to open it. Name's Easy Pete by the way, nice to meetcha."

"Thanks a lot Easy Pete, we'll see you around."

After they walked away, Stiles nudged his friend, "What's with the shovel dude?"

"Well, if we're going out hunting Xander Root, do you want to have to dig it up by hand? I sure don't, hence, the shovel."

Stiles groaned, it didn't seem totally necessary, but it hadn't been too expensive and he supposed it would make things a little easier, so he dropped the subject. The boys quickly ran over to the old school, finding a few Mantises roaming the yard; Stiles made a face, he didn't really like the insect creatures. They hopped around all the time and traveled in groups, making them hard to deal with, even if these ones were only about a foot tall. As they came closer, one of the Nymphs saw them and spread its wings, alerting the others to the threat. Two other green monsters joined up with the first one and they all jumped, reaching out with their sharp forelegs. Stiles took a few steps back to give himself time to aim, and then with a few well placed shots, he dispatched them and the boys searched the yard for the Root. It wasn't long before they found some by an old tree stump, Scott picking it and placing it in the pack.

Stiles glanced at the old building, "You want to take a look inside? Might have some good stuff in there that Pete missed, don't you think?"

Scott shrugged, "Worth a shot, let's go."

So the boys entered the abandoned building, Mantises congregated on them as soon as the door closed.

"Shit, there's even more in here!" Stiles yelled, pulling out the pistol.

He shot a few, and the others made the mistake of jumping on Scott, who easily smashed them in his hands before healing from the minor cuts.

Scott turned to smile at his companion, "See, who needs a gun? Not me."

"Ha, well Skinny Snark-pants does so Mr. Wolf-Powers needs to shut his fluffy butt," Stiles sneered good-naturedly.

The boys scoured the room, easily finding small stashes of caps and even some spare ammo and a couple of magazines; then they found the safe that Easy Pete must have been talking about. Scott crouched down and pulled out a bobby pin, getting ready to pick it.

"Whoa, wait a second, there's a computer here, guy," Stiles chided. "It probably opens the safe, and we don't have to break any bobby pins. Use your head bro."

"Yea, like the computer won't have a code on it or anything."

Stiles held his hand up to his chest, a hurt look on his face, "You doubt my abilities?"

Scott just gave him a look, and leaned against the safe as Stiles cracked his knuckles and powered on the monitor. Of course the computer was locked but he scanned through the database and within a few tries, guessed the right password. He smiled smugly at Scott, as he unlocked the safe and powered down the monitor.

"Cake and pie Scott, cake and pie."

"Yea, yea, show off!" Scott teased and he popped the door open.

They both appraised the loot they found, a Stealth Boy, that was going to come in handy later! They also found some caps and some water, which was always useful. They gathered everything up and looked around one last time, satisfied that they had found everything; they left the school and started heading back towards the center of town.

Up ahead Stiles saw a robot rolling down the road, which was weird, you don't normally see robots out this far from the Strip. He nudged Scott, silently inquiring if he might know what was up with the bot.

Scott whispered, "That's Victor, he's the robot that helped out. He's… different though, and he has a cowboy face on his screen. He didn't really stick around for me to get a read on him, so I don't know what to tell ya."

Stiles nodded his head, wondering what Scott meant, but he strode across the road and waved the robot down. "Hey, my friend here says you're the one that really saved my bacon! Just wanted to say thanks for helping me out last night Victor," Stiles said to the robot.

"Glad to see you're looking fit as a fiddle. Happy to help out," the robot replied with a slight western accent.

"I was hoping you could tell me about the guys that shot me, maybe you knew them, or saw where they went?"

"Naw, can't say that I knew them, but maybe some of the townsfolk do, can't hurt to ask them. Didn't see which why they went, I was too busy checking on you boys. Sorry I can't be of more help," Victor replied.

"That's fine, I'm sure someone here has to know something. Oh, one other thing, would you happen to know where any Broc Flowers are? We need some."

"Oh, as a matter of fact, there are some up at the graveyard, I remember spotted some when I helped you boys out. Hope that helps," Victor answered.

"Thanks a ton, and thanks again for your help saving me," Stiles said one last time.

Stiles and Scott watched as the robot turned and wheeled away, not sure what to make of him.

Scott turned to Stiles and mumbled, "Told you he was a weird one."

"Yea, and he wasn't much help with Peter, but at least we know where some Broc Flower is! Let's go, we can keep asking around about Peter once we finish up with Sunny."

They practically ran up to the graveyard, wanting to hurry up and get back to hunting Peter down. They noticed the dried blood on the dirt and the many scuffed footprints, the only markings left from the incident last night. They poked around, Stiles staying away from the center of the graveyard; he kicked some of the dry brush that was gathered around the older graves. Unconsciously, Stiles reached up to feel his fresh scar, once again amazed at the fact he had lived through the confrontation at all. As they continued to look around, Scott finally called out that he found one, holding the flower up victoriously. Stiles smiled at his brother as he walked over to join him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. They paused a moment, not quite ready to head back to Sunny, so Stiles decided to sit down next to one of the graves. He grabbed up one of the trinkets that had been left as a memento, spinning it around in his hands; after a few breaths, Stiles decided to broach the subject, "Hey Scott, after I got shot, what happened? How did you get us out of there?"

*On the Road*

As the sun set, the wolves set out once again, Derek trying not to check up on Isaac every few minutes. After he had eaten, they cooked up the rest of the Radscorpion and wrapped it up in some old newspapers; it was sitting on the top of Derek's pack, which was becoming pretty full. He made a mental note to buy some kind of bag for Isaac to keep food for himself; since he was a teenager, his body had an even faster metabolism than Derek, and it was going to be important that they had access to food. As they followed the road, they came across an old underpass swarmed with Ants. Isaac heard them scuttling around, and he subconsciously maneuvered behind Derek, seeking protection.

"It's alright, Ants aren't usually dangerous, not to us. From the sound of it, there aren't any Soldier Ants, those are the ones you want to watch out for. Let's climb up the side here and take a look, I can teach you a few things," Derek suggesting, directing Isaac to the incline.

They scrambled up, managing to stay quiet so the Ants didn't notice them; Isaac had never seen them before so he was glad they hadn't blindly stumbled across them.

"Okay see, they are small, well small considering the size of the Soldier Ants, nothing too special about them really, as long as you stay away from the mandibles," Derek started, pointing down at the creatures.

They were about three feet long, with proportional mandibles coming off their faces, they'd tear through leather and skin rather easily if you let them. Isaac didn't fancy running into a troop of these, he felt like they could easily overwhelm someone.

Derek continued, "They are best to take out with a gun, or long range weapon, just so they can't get a hold of you. But if you do get close, or manage to sneak up on them, your claw will easily pierce their armor. Their carapace is much thinner than those of the Radscorpions, so really, they aren't a threat. I've got a 12.7mm handgun in the pack, just in case we run into a Soldier, but I think this will be a good opportunity for you."

"What? What does that mean? You want me to kill the ants?" Isaac sputtered, eyes wide.

"Yes, you need practice, and confidence if I'm being honest. These are easy targets as long as you don't panic Isaac. Trust me, you can do this."

Isaac moaned and closed his eyes, trying to find some sort of strength in his bones for this. But Derek was nudging him, wanting his attention once more.

"This first one, right down here, you can easily jump on, and if you focus your weight, you'll be able to land on it heavier than usual. It's a hard technique to explain but easy to master. Basically just tense up your body and imagine throwing your full weight down on your opponent, not just falling through the air. Take your time and line up your jump, then the second Worker will be coming at you.

"They aren't really fast, or particularly smart, so as it gets close to you, you'll be able to dodge it, either by rolling or jumping, whichever you prefer. Your body doesn't have any limits like before, just trust your instincts. Once you dodge, it will take the Ant a moment to recover and track you, take that time to attack. Any of their joints are weak spots, their armor is the thinnest there," Derek explained, looking at Isaac.

"Okay… and if it looks like I can't do this, will you help me out?" Isaac asked, his voice cracking.

Derek could feel his hesitance, Isaac had no self-confidence; if he panicked down there, he could get seriously hurt. He sat up, pulled Isaac with him, one hand on either of his shoulders.

"Isaac, you are a Werewolf now, there aren't many things that can seriously hurt you. Trust your body, trust your wolf, he'll help guide you. But you have to be willing to listen and let him take control. You will be fine, just remember what I said, even if they do grab you, you'll be fast enough to dislodge their heads before you'll lose a limb."

"But, what if I run into more than three someday? They may be small, but if they work together, they can be scary, I've heard a lot of stories about them," Isaac whispered, not wanting to alert the creatures to their presence.

Derek shook his head, "You can't think about things like that, are there more than three Ants down there? No, so don't waste your energy on thinking up scenarios that are worse that what you're actually up against. You have a few advantages already: 1 you are aware of their presence, 2 they are completely unaware of you, 3 you know their weak points, 4 they are spread out so they won't be able to swarm you, so you'll be fighting one-on-one, and 5 I will step in. Remember, I'm your Alpha, I'm responsible for you."

Upon hearing the words, Isaac relaxed; it felt good to just hear that Derek had his back, even if nothing was supposed to go wrong.

"And remember, I have faith in you, I won't push you to do something that you aren't prepared for. If these were Soldiers, or Radscorpions, or even 5 or more swarming Ants, I wouldn't let you do it alone. If some unforeseen catastrophe happens, I'll get you out of there, this is just for training, not a life or death situation," Derek added on.

"Thanks, that helped. I've never really had anyone to stand up and protect me before, it's weird. Dad would have just thrown me in the middle and probably wish I would die. But I think I'm ready, just trust my wolf and I'll be okay," Isaac repeated, taking a few deep breaths.

Derek clapped him on the shoulder, watching as he took a steadying breath, crouching at the edge of the incline. He stood there, watching the Ant below him skitter around between the trashed cars; he couldn't miss, this was his moment to prove to himself he was worth something. Closing his eyes, Isaac focused on Derek's words, he visualized himself forcing his weight down and he felt his muscles tense and expand. Then he opened his eyes and noticed that everything was brighter, his wolf had focused his vision, allowing him to pick up even more in the fading light.

With one last breath, he launched his body off the edge, lining up with the Ant below him. When he made contact with the large insect, he let out a satisfying snarl, the body crushed beneath his feet. Immediately he swung around, anticipating the next Worker that was coming his way, crouching low in preparation to jump. The Ant reared its head, preparing to clamp down on its quarry when he leapt into the air, over the Ant's head. As he was in the air, Isaac felt himself twisting, somersaulting; when he landed, his legs were on either side of Ant's thorax and his claws dug into the soft spot right behind its head. It crumpled to the ground, completely disabled, legs twitching feebly.

Knowing he only had one opponent left, he turned to face it, teeth bared, and claws at the ready. The Worker charged at him and Isaac, finally knowing what it meant to trust his wolf, surged forward and grabbed its mandibles. He felt the raw power surging through him, and he twisted his arms, flipping the creature onto its side, legs kicking in the air; then he growled as he ripped the jaws apart, insect blood flowing out from its face. He dropped the now useless jaws on the ground, taking one finally look at the Ant as it lie on the ground, motionless. Isaac tenses as he felt another presence coming closer to him, but then his wolf calmed and he realized it was just Derek. When he turned around, he saw a proud look on Derek's face and the sight made his throat tighten suddenly.

"You did good Isaac, I knew you could do it," Derek praised.

Isaac just ran up to him and threw his arms around his Alpha, grateful that Derek cared about him. He was 17 years old and this was the first time in his life he'd been praised. Derek was taken by surprise but he returned the hug, forgetting what it was like to have someone to protect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mantis: look like regular praying mantises, only huge! the small ones (nymphs) that Stiles/Scott ran into were only about 1-2 feet tall. They aren't overly dangerous if you see them before they see you, although the larger ones aren't something to take lightly. They often jump at their prey, lashing out with their sharp forearms, as well as attack in groups. The adult mantises can be as tall as a person, quite the force to reckon with, especially when they flock together.
> 
> Ants: the regular worker ants and soldier ants are basically just large forms of regular ants. They weren't mutated (other than size obviously) due to the exposure to radiation after the war. The soldier ants as about twice as tall as the worker ants (maybe two/three feet tall) and have huge mandibles. Definitely not something you want to fight up close and personal, but at least they aren't venomous right?


	5. Trouble in Goodsprings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott tells Stiles about what happened the night before, and the two of them vow to hunt Peter down. They catch up with Sunny now that they've got their ingredients and learn how to make some Healing Powder. Then things get a little complicated when they go to meet Melissa.

*Goodsprings, The Night Before*

Scott and Stiles were standing there, wrists bound in front of them as Peter rambled on and on, the two Khans with him clearly didn't understand his way of doing things. Scott kept trying to break the chains wrapped around his wrists.

"Don't bother Scott, the reason you got chains and Stiles here didn't is because I know your little secret," Peter cut in, noticing his movements.

Scott's eyes flew upward, wondering how Peter could possibly know about him being a Werewolf. He had learned how to keep his wolf phases under control, they couldn't afford the trouble of anyone finding out.

Peter grinned evilly, "Did you think you could keep that secret from me, your own Father as it were."

"You are not my Dad, I know who my Dad was you asshole."

"Now, now, calm down, I simply meant that I'm the one that gave you The Bite, I'm the one that welcomed you into the glorious world of Weres. Aren't you excited about the gift I gave you? I've been waiting for a thank you for years now."

Scott's eyes bulged out of his head, "You? You're the one that bit me when I was a kid? Why? Do you have any idea what havoc you caused in my life?!"

"Oh don't take that tone with me Beta, or should I call you Omega? It's not like you have a Pack or anything right?"

Scott strained against the cold metal, wanting to rip Peter's throat out, "Let us go asshole! I'm going to kill you!"

"It was you? All those years ago? Why the hell did you bite Scott?" Stiles asked, completely dumbfounded by this revelation, forgetting the immediate danger his life was in.

"Because he had a lot of potential, I knew the Bite was going to take. I was hoping that he'd be intrigued by the gift I gave him and come looking for me. I was disappointed when he didn't, although he wasn't the only one I gave The Bite to. Some of the kids that came looking for me were such a letdown; I had to get rid of them, such a shame.

"Now Scott here, he still has potential, I never would have thought that a lonely Omega would be able to train himself to keep his inner wolf hidden away. I think the only thing holding him back is you, a filthy Human that thinks he can be friends with a Were. That ends tonight though," Peter said, raising his gun.

"Don't you dare!" Scott bellowed, eyes suddenly shining in the darkness. "He's the one that trained me, help me to understand this so-called 'gift,' he didn't abandon me when the rest of my friends did, when I became a freak! He's like a brother to me, you don't get to ridicule him; you don't have the right!"

Peter's eyes turned red, a snarl forming on his face, "You don't get to backtalk me Scott, I MADE you! You are MINE, I'll make you stronger, take you out of this menial existence. You'll finally flourish, unlike with this Human. Right now you're an Omega, you're nothing, weak! Be my Beta and gain power."

"No," Scott snarled.

At his defiance, Peter growled, stepping towards Scott, trying to threaten him into submission, but Scott stood strong and proud, snarling back at the Alpha.

Peter cut off his growling, appraising the younger Were, "You need to be taught a lesson Scott, it's rude to go up against your Alpha like that-"

"You are NOT my Alpha, nor will you EVER be," Scott cursed, taking a step towards the dangerous wolf.

Stiles was rooted to the spot, there was so much going on, Peter had been expecting Scott to go crawling to him all these years? He hadn't counted on Stiles, and that was a big mistake on his part. Peter had greatly underestimated the bond that he and Scott shared; Scott would never abandon him.

But Peter was done playing Scott's game, he didn't have time for an uncooperative teenager, he just needed a quick attitude adjustment. He leveled the gun at the Human's head and pulled the trigger, grinning wildly as he watched the blood splatter.

Stiles felt the world slow down: he watched as Peter leveled his pistol, and then as Scott realized what was happening, and he tried to sidestep but was way too slow. All Stiles managed to was flinch away from the shot he knew was coming, eyes squeezed shut. Then everything went quiet.

Scott screamed out in pain as he watched Stiles's head snap back and he collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap. With a sudden surge of anger, Scott cracked the chains that bound his wrist, dropping them on the ground. When he turned back to Peter, the Alpha was standing right behind him and whipped Scott with the butt of his pistol, causing Scott's vision to blacken around the edges.

"Let's get out of here, I got my chip, that's all I needed," Peter called out, signaling for the 2 Khans to follow him.

Scott tried to go after Peter but his body wasn't cooperating, the savage blow to his head was making his responses slow. He tumbled to the ground, visions blurring and coming back into focus over and over, and his legs gave out on him every time he tried to stand up. Tears where streaming down face, both from anguish and frustration; he gave up trying to stand, knowing that Peter would be way too far ahead for him to catch now. So he crawled back towards his brother, yelling out his name. As he came closer to Stiles, he thought he heard a heartbeat, but his own was thumping in his ears that he couldn't be sure. Scott cradled Stiles in his lap, bending over him, wishing Stiles would wake up and wrap his arms around him.

His mourning was interrupted by a low whirring noise, startling him out of his thoughts. Looking around, he saw a robot coming towards them, his face screen a beacon in the night.

"What's going on here Stranger?" the robot asked.

"Help please, my brother, he's been shot, you have to help me!" Scott begged, unable to bring himself to look down at Stiles's pale face.

"Does he still have a heartbeat? We've got to get him to Dr. Deaton right away," the robot assessed, coming closer.

Scott wrapped his fingers around his friend's wrist, sensitive fingers picking up the faint heartbeat he felt. Scott sobbed out in relief, "Yea, he has a pulse, can you help me carry him, I don't feel quite up to it yet?"

"Not a problem, let's get going," he responded, hunching over and hoisting Stiles up with his mechanical arms.

Scott clambered to his feet and stumbled after the robot, head clearing just a bit; his heart was racing again, Stiles still had a chance! Now that Scott was moving, his head was becoming a lot clearer; if this Dr. Deaton was a miracle worker, then Stiles could come back to him. They moved through the dark town, Scott not even noting his surroundings, until they started up a small hill. Victor called out for the doctor, leaving Scott knock on the door frantically.

"What's going on? Is Bethany having her baby already? A voice called out to them.

They heard some shuffling, then a light turned on, and the door opened; a man looked at the group with an alarmed expression on his face.

"Help," Scott whispered, suddenly afraid to talk.

The man took in scene, quickly assessing the damage; he pulled open the door and ushered the robot in, "Over here, set him down on the table, nice and easy. What happened?"

The doctor wasted no time, washing his hands and gathering all of his equipment while Scott explained the last few minutes. All he did was nod his head and then he asked for privacy, pulling a small partition around the surgery table.

Scott slid to the floor, praying to whoever would listen for Stiles to be okay. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the robot hovering over him until his wheel came directly into his line of sight. Glancing up, he noticed that the robot had a cowboy face, which explained his accent.

"Howdy, my name's Victor by the way, nice to meet you."

"Scott, and in there is Stiles. Thanks for helping us, he'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you. I'm not sure how I could ever thank you Victor," Scott replied.

Victor waved his arm, "Think nothing of it, I'm happy to help those in need. But I best be going now, just wanted to introduce myself before I left. Your friend is in good hands."

And just like that Victor rolled out of the house, somehow managing to close the door behind him. Scott stayed on the floor, too worried to move; he could feel the stress sapping his muscles of strength.

*Graveyard, Present*

Stiles sat there, ignoring the tears running down his face as Scott finished recounting the night's events. Peter hadn't given his death a single thought, he just saw him as an annoying Human that had interfered with his project. Just like that he was ready to kill, if he deemed his target useless or in his way. Stiles was glad that he decided to leave Scott alive, clearly he saw Scott's potential and didn't want to kill him off yet. But Stiles didn't really understand Peter's thought process, he definitely wasn't going to win Scott's allegiance by killing his best friend right in front of him (as far as Peter knew, he was dead). He looked down at his hands, realizing he'd been twirling an old snow globe in his hands.

"Thanks for saving me Scotty, I know it would have been easy to just assume I was dead and leave me there."

"I-I couldn't leave you there man. I mean, my first thought was ripping Peter's throat out, but I realized I couldn't catch him. When I felt your pulse I just felt this sensation in my chest, I couldn't believe it really, I had so much hope that I thought my heart would give out. Maybe hope isn't the right word, I had this need for you to live, if you were to die and leave me all alone, I don't think I could have gone on any more. Peter was wrong, you are my Pack Stiles, we're in this together, we always have been."

Stiles finally reached up to wipe his eyes, knowing that Scott would never tease him for crying, especially not when they almost lost each other. He grabbed Scott and pulled him into a hug, almost afraid to let go, but Scott held him just as fiercely. After a long moment, they pulled away and got to their feet, Scott noticing the object in Stiles's hands.

"You going to steal that?" he asked, nudging his friend.

Stiles gave the globe a closer look, noticing Vault-Boy standing in the foreground with a pickaxe and a barn-like building behind him, along with a windmill, along the base it had the name of the town, Goodsprings.

"You know, I think I want to take this with us, you know, to commemorate the town I almost died in! Sorry ghosty, but I'm going to have to take this, I hope you understand," Stiles said, turning back to the grave he had grabbed it from. Then he turned to Scott and unzipped the pack, tucking it inside.

"I feel weird carrying something like this, it's like stealing," Scott told him, shifting the pack like it was suddenly a lot heavier.

"You know, for being someone born in a crappy time, you certainly have really strong morals, I don't understand how we've stayed together so long," Stiles joked, patting Scott on the shoulder.

"You keep me around because I stop you from doing all the really bad things, and I keep you around to break the rules for me, that way my slate stays nice and clean," Scott smiled.

"Oh I see, I'm just here to take all the bad karma! That's great, you're the reason I got shot in the head then! It's your fault for giving me bad karma when we had to go dig up graves. You didn't even help, something about desecration or whatever. You really don't belong in this time period man," Stiles complained.

Scott took it all in stride, "It's not my fault you are morally ambiguous and are okay with doing all the things that attract bad karma to begin with."

"Shut up, let's go back to Sunny so we can learn how to make us some healing powder, although I have a feeling I'm going to be needing it more than you."

The brothers laughed as they made their way back to Sunny, stopping by all the water wells to skin the Geckos they had killed, might as well harvest their meat for later. By the time they returned to Sunny, their arms were full of the meat to cook and hides to roll up.

"I see you boys have been busy, did you get the stuff?" she commented.

"Sure did," Stiles said as Scott took off his pack to rifle through it, pulling out the Broc Flower and Xander Root.

"Alright, now I can show you boys how to make some Healing Powder," she said, taking the ingredients from him and crouching over the campfire.

In a few simple steps, she had the root ground up and then added in to flower, pulling out a small burlap bag to dump the mix in. Then she stood up and handed it to Scott, telling them how simple it was. She told them that was all she really had left to teach them, but to come back and visit from time to time in case she learned any new recipes.

"Oh, and stop by the Saloon to say hi to Melissa, she loves to greet any and all travelers. She'd be hurt to hear that I helped you boys out and didn't even send you to say hey. She might even have some information on the guy that gave you that scar?" she added on, pointing to Stiles's temple.

"Thanks, we'll do that, right after we finish cooking up this meat so it doesn't go bad."

They waved as she made her way back towards the center of town, the boys stoking the fire to cook the meat. About an hour passed and the sun was finally starting to set when they had all the Gecko meat cooked and pack away, wrapped up in old papers.

"Time to go back to town and see what we can find out about Peter?" Scott asked.

"Yup, let's go."

Scott and Stiles entered the Saloon, turning the corner to approach the bar when they saw a dark-skinned man in a Kevlar vest, NCRCF stamped across the back of it. They slowed down, not wanting to attract attention and Scott turned his head so he could focus on what he was saying.

"I'm done being nice. If you don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're burning this town to the ground, got it?"

"We'll keep that in mind. Now if you're not going to buy anything, get out."

He abruptly turned around and pushed passed them, muttering, "What the fuck are you looking at?"

They watched him go before turning back to the lady he had been talking to, wondering what had just happened. Before they could say anything, she spoke up.

"You boys have been causing quite the stir, happy to finally meet you both, I'm Melissa; what can I help you with?"

Scott looked at her earnestly, "We couldn't help but overhear that argument, what was that all about?"

Melissa sighed as she walked back behind the bar, "Looks like we got dragged into something, and I really wish we hadn't. This trader by the name of Ringo came into town about a week ago, said that he survived some kind of attack and needed a place to hole up for awhile. He told us some bad men were after him, but we didn't actually think they'd follow him here!"

Stiles scowled, "Great guy bringing so much trouble to this small town. What are you going to do about it?"

"Some people like Sunny will probably offer him help, if he decides to ask," Melissa shrugged. "But personally I'd be a lot happier if he just snuck out one night and didn't come back; that way we'd all avoid some trouble. I really don't feel like dealing with the Powder Gangers."

Scott and Stiles looked at each other, "Powder Gangers?"

Melissa gave them a surprised look, "Don't know them? I guess that's a good thing. They're a chain gang, don't let them tell you otherwise. NCR brought them in to work on the rail lines, hoping to get them up and running again,"

Stiles groaned, "Did they serious hand over a bunch of dynamite and blasting powder to inmates?"

Both of them had worked on some railways before, needed to make some quick cash, so they knew all of the tools involved for something like that. Was the NCR really that idiotic?

Melissa nodded her head, "They managed some big escape not long ago, and now we're stuck dealing with them and the NCR has their thumbs up their asses. And that man, Joe Cobb, seems to be the self appointed leader of them."

"Why not just kill him then? Should make most of your problems go away," Stiles suggested.

Scott elbowed him in the ribs, "Stiles, do you have any morality at all?"

"What? He's an asshole, the world won't miss him or anything, it's not like I'm suggesting that we torture him mercilessly. Just… dispatch him, and viola, problem solved."

Melissa shook her head, "Murder isn't how we solve things around here, even for scum like Cobb. We'll figure something out I suppose."

Scott leaned over the bar, "Where is this Ringo guy anyways?"

"Holed up in the abandoned gas station, just up the road from Doc Deaton's place," Melissa said.

"What if we decide to help this Ringo out?" Stiles asked. He already knew Scott was wanting to, when Melissa had first mentioned he was in trouble, Scott had given him the puppy eyes. Might as well find out what was in it for them while they were talking about it.

"Well, you'd definitely be helping the townsfolk out a whole bunch, so your reputation would skyrocket, which of course could lead to a discount here and there. But… if you decide to help him, the Powder Gangers are going to be mad, and they have a lot of friends out there."

Scott growled, "They aren't people we'd want to be friends with anyways, so that doesn't matter. And at least if they attack us first, we'll be defending ourselves."

Melissa slowly nodded her head, giving the two boys an appraising look; they might be rough around the edges, but she could tell they had decent hearts.

"While we're here, do you think you could tell us a little about the guys that um, almost killed me?" Stiles asked, hoping that she'd have something they could go on.

She nodded her head, "They did stop by in here, acting like they owned the place, even tried to get free drinks, but I made them pay up. Although one of the Great Khans decided to 'accidently' knock over my radio and it's been broken since then. A shame too, I liked catching some outside information every now and again."

Scott perked up then, "I might be able to fix it."

Stiles tried not to roll his eyes, he was such a people pleaser, and he really seemed to like Melissa (he did too if he was being honest).

"That would sure be nice of you, I'd give you caps for your effort," Melissa smiled, she really did miss her radio.

Scott went around the bar and started fiddling with the radio while Stiles asked a few more questions, "So, did that asshat ever mention where he was heading?"

"Well, they were arguing about something, and I know I heard one of them mentioning coming down from Quarry Junction, but the guy in the flashy jacket kept shushing them, so I didn't catch much. Although truth be told, if they came from Quarry Junction, I'm not surprised they ain't going back that way. That place is crawling with critters you don't want to mess with. All the merchants that come through avoid that stretch of I-15 like it's radioactive… which it could be for all I know," Melissa said, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"Right, note to self, stay away from Quarry Junction. Is it too much to hope that you may have heard where they were headed?"

"Nothing specific, but there was a lot of talk about The Strip, so I'm fairly certain that's their destination. But if they want to get there and avoid I-15, he's going to have to go east and take Highway 93 up."

Stiles slapped his palm down on the wooden bar, "Thank God you heard that, you're awesome Melissa! At least now we have a direction to go, and the safe way to get there."

Just then they heard a crackle and music started filling the room, Scott letting out an excited whoop as he got it to work.

Melissa turned around and pulled him into a tight hug, thanking him over and over as she pulled a handful of caps out of her pocket and pressed them into his hands. Stiles watched as Scotty beamed and hugged her back, happy to have helped a person in need; he really was such a nice person, Stiles really couldn't fathom why he stuck with Stiles for so long. It wasn't hard to tell that Stiles had no problems with doing questionable things, but Scott was so genuinely nice, that it felt like they shouldn't get along.

"Well I guess we better head on out and see what's up with Ringo before we follow Peter's trail. He's already got quite the head start on us, it can't hurt to postpone it another day," Stiles shrugged.

"Please make sure that Cobb doesn't follow you, Ringo seems like a good kid, even if he did bring all this trouble here with him," Melissa asked, reaching across the bar to pull Stiles into a hug as well.

"Careful is our middle name!" Scott replied, draping an arm around Stiles as he straightened. Then he looked down and saw the scar and corrected himself, "Well, it's my middle name… Danger is his middle name."

Melissa and Stiles both started laughing as soon as he said that, waving goodbye and heading out the front door. They turned to the right and started heading up the small hill, already seeing the old gas station from the road. Scott was still beaming as they walked in silence; Stiles couldn't really be sure, but he had starting thinking that Scott must get some kind of spiritual energy when he helped others. There was no other way to explain his happy moods, it just wasn't natural! But after all their time together, Stiles really didn't care, he was happy to have his own personal ray of sunshine out in this crap-hole of a state. When they got to the building, the boys scrounged around for a bit before tossing open the door, but they stopped dead in their tracks; there was a guy in here pointing a gun at them, again.

"That's close enough. Who are you boys? And what do you want with me?"

Scott stepped in front of Stiles, hands raised, "Easy there, we're not looking for any trouble. I take it you must be Ringo?"

After a moment of consideration, he lowered his weapon, "Okay, sorry, I'm a bit on edge, and you just barged in here… can't really afford to take any chances you know? Let's start over, I'm Ringo, a trader from the Crimson Caravan Company. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Scott, and this is my brother Stiles, we came looking for you after we heard Cobb giving Melissa a hard time in the Saloon. Did you know he's in town already?"

Ringo rolled his eyes, "I figured he'd catch up before too long, although I notice he didn't make his appearance until after the sun went down. I know he's afraid that if I catch sight of him, I'll shoot him, which is true. I'm more worried about when all of his friends show up, I can't take them all on…"

"Wait, why are they even after you?" Stiles asked, coming out from behind Scott.

"The caravan I was in was on the way back from California, heading up to the New Vegas branch when we got jumped. They didn't even give us a warning, just started shooting; we did our best, but we were outgunned, and outmanned. I did manage to hit some of the bandits before I ran for it. I figure this is their friends coming after me for revenge."

"What are you going to do about it?" Scott asked, a worried frown on his face.

"Well, I'm hoping to just lay low for as long as I can, wait for things to blow over… assuming that the townsfolk don't just throw me to the wolves. I can't take on the whole gang by myself," Ringo said, shrugging hopelessly.

Scott shared a look with Stiles, and he nodded his head, Stiles couldn't say no to Scott…who couldn't say no to someone in need.

"We'll help you," Scott offered.

Ringo scoffed, "Yea, like the three of us would stand a chance, we'd just end up all sharing the same grave-"

Scott and Stiles both growled, although Scott's was more guttural; the thought of dying to some idiotic chain gang so soon after Peter wasn't acceptable.

"You severely underestimate our skills," Stiles shot back. "You really think a couple of bullets would put us down for the count?" he asked, pointing to his new scar.

Scott crossed his arms, "We've recently been to Hell and back, I wouldn't really test us right now. We've got a score to settle and nothing is going to get in our way of that."

Ringo looked them over, "If you've so recently gone through a hard time, all the more reason to be careful right now. Being reckless is only going to get you to your graves faster. If we got more of the townspeople involved then we'd be much better off, don't you agree?"

Stiles fumed, starting to really not like this guy's attitude, here they were trying to offer some help and he basically threw it back in their faces… who was he to assume they weren't good enough to take on some lame gang? Stiles clenched his fists, if only he still had his baby, the gangers would be dead. He'd just have to find himself a nice vantage point and they wouldn't even know what hit them. Literally. And Scott would be down in the action to sweep up any stragglers, but no, this guy wanted to put even more people in danger.

Scott picked up on his anger easily, putting a calming hand on his back, knowing exactly what Stiles was thinking, "We can ask around, but you really shouldn't be expecting these innocent people to put their lives on the line for you. Don't start expecting much."

"Start by asking Sunny, she's been real nice, more so than the others in town, let me know what she says," Ringo told them, ignoring Scott's comment.

Stiles just turned away and pushed his way back out the door, stomping down the hill, Scott right behind him. "Can you believe that Jackass? He's ready to try and recruit the whole town to his side, to fight his battle for him. If he can't take on his own enemies, he's not going to get far!"

"I know, but it can't hurt to ask, anyone that doesn't want to help out we can have them stay in their houses. The more that decide to help, it will be easier," Scott tried to placate.

"If I still had my damn gun, this would never even need to be an option, I don't want Sunny to get shot just because she thinks she needs to help this guy. It's bad enough that you might get shot Scotty, and I know you'll heal," Stiles practically shouted, throwing out that last part as a rushed whisper. "We may joke about my moral ambiguity, but at least I don't needlessly risk other people's lives."

Scott watched as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, hands reaching up to massage his eyes. "Let's just go ask her, I'm sure she'd probably get offended if we let this fight go down without her anyways. And Ringo will skip out on the fight if we don't at least get one more person on our side. It's only fair that he at least participates in the showdown."

Stiles nodded his head and the two pushed their way back into the Saloon, hoping to find Sunny there. They didn't see her right away but they heard Cheyenne barking, she must have smelled them because she came bounding around the corner to greet them.

"Hey, sticking around for awhile longer?" Sunny asked as she came around the corner to see who Cheyenne had found.

Stiles nodded, but let Scott talk, he knew he'd have a bitter tone if he was the one to ask.

"We're uh, thinking of helping Ringo out, and he's worried that just the two of us aren't enough-"

"Quite the rude assumption," Stiles muttered, interrupting his friend.

"I'm sure he'd feel more at ease if you were to lend us a hand," Scott finished, not so subtly knocking Stiles in the ribs.

Sunny snorted, "Well, considering that you two were recently almost in a grave, he might have a point."

"That's only because he was a Were, and we didn't know it… the guy that had us delivering the package failed to tell us it was a highly sought after item… cheapskate! If he had told us, we would have been more prepared. But thanks to trying to save some caps, we were left in the dark!" Stiles ranted, obviously a little bitter that they had been lied to and had almost died because of it.

Sunny nodded in understanding, "Well, I hadn't known any of the details, not even why you had been shot. Really sounds like someone gave you the short end of the stick, sorry. But you have to realize, not a lot of people are comfortable with being outmanned. And if he doesn't personally know your skill, of course he's going to want more help. Don't hate him for it. But to get back to the question, I'd be more than happy to help. I want those gangers out of our hair for good."

"Awesome, that was easy, Ringo should be plenty happy now," Scott grinned.

"I do think it would be good to get a few more hands in this, at least to show the Powder Gangers that we aren't a town of pushovers you know? Everyone in town really looks up to Melissa, why don't you ask her what she thinks about this, and if she'll join us. If she does, a lot of other will too."

"Whoa, I don't want Melissa getting hurt," Stiles cut in, looking uneasy.

"She knows how to handle herself, don't you worry," Sunny smiled. "Also, maybe we could ask Easy Pete to share some dynamite, and I know Chet just got in some leather armor. We should talk to them as well."

"I guess we can, if you really think so," Scott offered, trying to please everyone.

"Oh, and, maybe talk with Doc, see if he has any extra stimpacks lying around, we'll probably need those. Can never be too careful when it comes to a gunfight," she added on.

Stiles groaned but nodded his head; he really didn't want to ask favors of all these people, but she seemed hell-bent on getting their help, so they might as well ask around. Scott smiled at her in thanks as she took off towards the door, but she suddenly turned around.

"Um, just a few words of advice, Melissa is going to feel more secure if she knows we have a solid plan. Chet won't just let his armor go either, even if the town is at stake, so be prepared to barter… And Easy Pete, he's pretty protective of his stuff, he won't be handing it over unless he's sure you know how to handle yourself. So if you can't get help from everyone, I understand."

They waited until she left to head on back around to the bar, glad to see Melissa was still awake.

"Hey, Melissa, could we ask you for a favor?" Scott opened, sliding onto one of the stools.

She gave him a knowing look, "You going to take on Cobb and his friends? You're taking a big risk, but I suppose you boys know what you're doing."

"Would you like to help out? Sunny is sure it's going to be excited, and she says you know how to handle yourself, might be fun."

Melissa chuckled, "Well, it has been some time since I've had to put out my old shotgun, maybe I should get a little practice in while I can. Sure, I'll help."

Scott and Stiles both smiled this time, liking Melissa even more than before, at least she wasn't afraid to stand and protect what was hers. They left to go talk with Chet after a few more minutes of discussion; Melissa promised to ask around, surely some people wouldn't be afraid to stand up for their town. She gave them the same warning about Chet as Sunny did, but she couldn't argue the fact that he had supplies they could use. They went next door to the General Store, finding Chet in the back room, getting ready to head to bed.

"Hey, sorry to catch you so late but, Sunny and Melissa were wondering if you'd be willing to help us out in a pinch?"

"Is this about that Ringo fella? My opinion: we should just hand him over, it's not like we need to get mixed up in this problem," Chet answered, crossing his arms. "But don't go thinking I'm a chicken for saying that, we're all survivors here and I'd fight tooth and nail along with everyone else if push comes to shove. I just don't think we should go looking for trouble is all."

"But, we were hoping you'd be able to give us some supplies to help out in the fight," Scott mumbled, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"Whoa, like I said, I'm not voting for the fighting side of this issue, that's a big investment to try and take them on," Chet argued.

"Come on man, the town is at stake here, is that really worth more than a few supplies? If we lose, you can bet the Powder Gangers aren't going to go easy on you just because you weren't a part of the fight. They're here to try and take over this place, Ringo surrendered or not. I know the types, they think they can boss this town around Chet. We need your help dude," Stiles pushed, wanting him to understand.

Chet groaned, but Stiles could see that his argument had won him over, "Alright, you've made your point, I can provide some people with leather armor and extra ammo… I hope this is all worth it. But make no mistake, I'm going to be guarding my store while all of this is going on, my business comes first."

"Thanks a lot man, Melissa and Sunny sure will appreciate this!" Scott exclaimed. Chet just rolled his eyes, still feeling like this was an awful idea, and shooed them out of his store.

After talking with Chet, they decided to go look for the dynamite master, although he wasn't at his usual spot at the front of the Saloon. They had a hard time finding Easy Pete, they didn't know which house was his, but luckily they found one of the ranchers out tending to his animals so they asked him. Luckily he knew where Pete could be located and the boys headed on over, hoping he wasn't going to be too grumpy at the late night visit. Knocking on the door, they waited as they heard some groans and the creak of a mattress, and then the door opened.

"Hey, we were wondering if you'd be willing to help us out, we're going to be dusting the Powder Gangers and Sunny said that if we got our hands on some dynamite, we'd definitely have the upper hand," Scott asked.

"Too dangerous, gonna kill yourselves if I let ya touch it, no, it's better off buried. A lot safer that way."

Scott deflated but Stiles stepped forward, "Sir, we've worked on the rail lines before this, so we've handled dynamite before, we know all about the safety and handling procedures."

They held their breath as he looked them over, eventually deciding that they were telling the truth, "Alright, I'll go dig it up, have it ready by the time the fighting starts up, but you best be careful with it."

"Thank you so much, I promise we'll be the only ones handling it, that way no one in the town gets hurt," Scott said, reaching forward to shake the older man's hand.

They bid him goodnight and decided to head on over to the Doctor's house, hoping that he wasn't going to be too put out by their request. When they knocked on Deaton's door, he answered it rather quickly, like he was expecting someone.

"Oh, it's you two, wasn't expecting this, you don't need to be patched up again already do you?"

"No, thank goodness," Stiles laughed as he welcomed them inside.

"We don't want to take up too much time, it's just that the Powder Gangers are coming into town and we're all going to make a stand. Do you think you could give us any spare medical supplies?" Scott asked, feeling bad for asking.

Deaton sighed, "I don't have much, but I'll give what I can, these folks are my friends. I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but maybe with you two helping out, there won't be much bloodshed… at least on our end."

They waited just inside the door as he left to go round up some stimpacks, both boys feeling really guilty about it. When he came back, he handed over 5 of the packs, which Scott carefully tucked away.

"We'll pay you back for this Deaton, I promise. I know you're doing it for the good of the town, but we understand how scare these supplies are. Plus we still have to repay you for saving my life. Whenever we head back this way, we'll make sure to drop some stuff off," Stiles promised, not wanting to take advantage.

"Oh you don't have to do that, really, just help make sure the town doesn't get taken over by those bullies," Deaton told them, not really believing they'd come back to visit Goodsprings.

"We'll wipe them all out, that's a guarantee," Stiles nodded solemnly.

He stood at the door, watching as they went further up the hill, something about those two boys intrigued him, but he pushed the thought away. It wasn't like he'd be seeing them again anyways.

Scott knocked on the door this time before entering the station, wanting to avoid getting shot. Inside they saw Ringo and Sunny, both looking at them expectantly.

"Good news, we got everyone to help out, Melissa even said that she'd ask around to see who else might want to lend a hand. Pete said he'd have the dynamite ready by the time the Gangers show up," Scott revealed.

Ringo relaxed, leaning back against the wall in relief, and Sunny congratulated them, "I'm sure it wasn't easy to convince him to hand over his explosives, but I'm glad you did. And Chet probably gave you a hard time too, but their help will definitely make a difference."

"Yea, now all we have to do is wait," Stiles shrugged, looking around.

"Yea, I doubt they'll be attacking at night, not when they don't know the area, but gathering from how pissed Cobb was earlier, they'll be here first thing in the morning, so we should get some rest," Sunny suggested. "You boys could crash at my place, I only have a couch to offer, but it beats the floor right?"

"Yea, that sounds good, we've definitely slept on worse. And that way we'll be right there when the bad news rolls into town."

"Come get me in the morning, and we'll take 'em down," Ringo stated, feeling much more confident now.

"Yea, whatever, bye Ringo," Stiles said over his shoulder. He could really care less about him, he was more worried about protecting the town right now.

They followed Sunny back to her place, and she gave them a spare blanket to share and bid them goodnight before disappearing into her bedroom. Scott and Stiles wasted no time, pulling off their shoes and lying on the couch, ready for sleep. They decided to just spoon on the couch, figuring that would be the best way to conserve body heat and share the blanket; it wasn't like they were embarrassed by it. Scott offered to take the inside of the couch, he had a higher body temperature so he'd be able to keep Stiles warmer this way. After they shifted around to get comfortable, they easily fell asleep after their long day, and tomorrow sounded like it was going to be exciting.


	6. Arriving in Primm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isaac learns some more about how to be a Were and they finally make it to a town called Primm. They stop to get something to eat and Isaac tells him there is a Were working at the casino.

*On The Road*

Isaac was in high spirits as they moved on, leaving the Ants on the road since they had no need for any more meat right now. Derek tried to hide the smile on his face, but he was glad that Isaac was feeling better about his abilities; it hadn't been hard to see that Isaac tried to ignore his wolf abilities since he had gotten the Bite. He probably blamed it for almost getting him killed, and resentment went a long way to block out a wolf's instinct. Derek was going to do his best to train Isaac, he wanted him to understand how much a gift his wolf could be, if he accepted it. Although given his poor condition, Derek was completely surprised the Bite hadn't killed him; but the wolf gene must have sensed something in him and his body didn't reject it.

"So, I know it's still really early and all, but could you maybe tell me more about how I can control my phasing?" Isaac asked.

"Well, first you'll need to find your anchor, something that keeps you grounded, have you experienced your first full moon yet?" Derek asked, stopping his explanation.

"No, I was bit around the last full moon, which means it's coming up again right?"

"Yea, I'm going to have to prepare you for that, it's 2 days away, well nights I guess. Full moons are difficult to master, especially your first one; even for a born wolf like myself. So the sooner we find your anchor the better. It can be a person, a thing, a feeling, just something that calms your heartbeat and reins the wolf back in. The bloodlust is at its peak during the full moon, so it will be hardest to control then. I'm actually really surprised you've done so well on your own this whole month, a lot of Omegas are a lot more feral than you."

"That might be because I hated my new predicament, if I shunned it, could that be what helped me keep my humanity?" Isaac asked.

"Yea, although that's not a healthy way to continue to keep it at bay, eventually it will rear its head and demand recognition. So now that you are starting to accept it, we have to find something that helps you maintain control over it. Controlling your urges needs to be mastered before you can control your phasing, the phases are tied to your emotions. So I can't really be of any help when it comes to finding what works, it depends on your experiences and thoughts, I can only explain how it works and offer examples. Your phases are also unique to you, how you control them will differ from me; and which phase is your first one might not be the same."

Seeing the confused look on Isaac's face, Derek launched into more of a show than a tell, "My first phase change I learned to control was my ears, then my claws, teeth, and finally tail. Shifting into my Alpha form was a completely different thing, but since you don't have to worry about that, we'll skip it for now. But as I was trying to explain, I learned how to shift my ears first," he concentrated and felt his ears shift and grow. "See? I can make my ears pop out without making any other traits form. But yours might not be your ears first, it could be your claws, or your tail. Make sense?"

"Yea, but how come they aren't all tied together? Like they are either all there or not?"

"Well, that's because you can use it to represent your moods, and how bonded you are with your wolf. For example, my tail is controlled by my happiness, if I'm feeling extremely happy, my tail shows and wags. It takes a lot of self control to stop my tail from forming in those conditions. My teeth and claws are more in tune with my anger, so when I'm mad, they have a higher chance of shifting without my control. Of course when I'm fighting, they come out, but that's because I'm working together with my wolf at that time. Still with me?"

Isaac processed for a moment before nodding his head, "So what about your ears? What makes those come out?"

"For me, it's paranoia, and as a kid, I was always scared that Humans were going to find my family. I started to realize that when I felt nervous, my ears would almost buzz with energy, and my parents taught me about the various shift controls. So when I learned to control my nervousness, I was able to make my ears go away. Then, if I want them to come out, I just have to think back on that feeling of when I was little and I thought Humans were nearby and they come out. So if they ever just come out and it isn't because I'm trying to listen to something, it means I'm feeling paranoid."

"Whoa, I never would have thought about that at all, like I said, I thought they were all tied together, but they are all separate? So I can figure out what controls my tail right away and make it go away, but then be stuck with my ears for awhile?"

Derek chuckled, "Yea, basically. But first, we need to control your urges, since the moon is coming, then after that passes, we can work on the whole phasing thing. So to give an example, my anchor is anger. In order to maintain control, I think about what happened to my family and it just angers me; usually that makes it harder for you to control your wolf so I don't suggest it, but for me, it brings clarity. It's like it cuts through the wolf haze and I can see straight again, that's the feeling you'll be looking for. It will be hard to find right now since you're fully in control, but the sooner you start thinking about it, the more you'll have to try when the moon does arrive."

"Okay," Isaac nodded, understanding. He went quiet after that, thinking back on what it felt like to really connect with his wolf when he had been fighting the Ants, how he felt like it wasn't really him that had control of his actions. It was more like he sitting on the sidelines as someone else controlled his body. But it felt good, it was something he could trust, someone that would take care of his body in ways he couldn't because he didn't understand. And now Derek was telling him that when the full moon came, he'd have to fight for control, and he wasn't sure how to really do that. Anger was probably the wrong choice, like Derek said, but he wasn't really sure what else he could use to counter that, he didn't really have a lot of happiness to go around. As they continued o walk, Isaac remember that Derek mentioned it could also be a person, or a thing, not just a feeling. Maybe he'd be better off trying that route instead; he was about to ask Derek about it when his wolf stiffened, at the same time Derek did.

"Off the road," Derek said in a gruff whisper.

Before Isaac even had time to react, Derek had grabbed his wrist and practically threw him behind some rocks. Isaac clamped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from asking questions, he knew that something was going on and questions could wait. He watched his Alpha as he concentrated, noticed how his ears were pitched forward, so he tried to do the same thing. Isaac slowed his breathing and focused on his hearing, asking his wolf to lend him strength; within moments he could suddenly hear the faint crunching of feet on the pavement. He couldn't be certain as to how many people there were, but it had to be at least two because the sound was too erratic to be coming from a single person. He hesitated a moment before tapping his Alpha on the shoulder, hoping to make this into a learning opportunity as well.

Derek glanced over at the Beta, hoping he knew better than to speak with Humans so close, but one glance told him that Isaac would remain quiet. Instead, he pointed to his ears, then made a walking motion with his fingers and then held up a 2 with a questioning look on his face. Isaac wanted to know if he was hearing two people, Derek smiled, he was trying to learn. Derek held up three fingers in response and Isaac concentrated more, trying to pick out the subtle differences in the steps. Now that he knew there were three for sure, he was able to pick out the heavier sounds of one person, and then the quicker step of a second- their light steps coming in much faster than the others. Now that he was able to pick those two apart, he heard the faint shuffling of the third person, but he was brought back when Derek tapped him.

Isaac watched as Derek pointed to his nose, and then gestured to his ears, and then made his ears human and pointed to them again. He thought for a moment and realized that Derek wanted to know if he smelled Humans or Wolves. So he focused his instincts on his sense of smell, raising his head to try and catch the faint stirring of air coming from over the top of the rock. It took him a moment to finally catch their scents, although he struggled as he tried to sort through them; he had no idea how a Werewolf smelled different from a human. He opened his eyes and frowned, barely catching himself before he let out a frustrated whine. Instead he turned towards Derek, leaning in and sniffed him, categorizing his scent deep into his brain. Then he sniffed himself, which was a little harder to categorize since he had pretty much blocked out his own scent long ago. Derek waited patiently, still listening as the footsteps came even closer to them, and now they were close enough for him to clearly make out what they were saying.

Isaac sat with his eyes closed, trying to pinpoint what might be similar about their scents; he picked up on something, but then he recalled his father's smell, and that of the other gang members and realized they all had it too, so that must be 'male'. He pushed that to the back of his mind and focused some more, and then his brain caught something that made his ears flicker. When he pinpointed the specific essence, he felt his wolf come alive, that had to be the telltale wolf aura. He couldn't pull up that particular scent from his father or the other gang members, only from him and Derek, so that had to be the one he was looking for. Now that Isaac was certain he had 'wolf' and 'male' identified, he tried once more to figure out the group on the road. The strong smell of 'male' came to him, so he was certain that none of the travelers were female. He kept sorting, picking up a singular 'wolf' aura and Isaac figured out that the 'human' smell made his nose tingle. It was difficult to describe the scent, there were no real words to express the particular smell that was 'human' or 'wolf,' it was easier to just describe how they effected him. He'd have to remember that for later, so he could ask Derek about it when it was safe.

Isaac turned to Derek and held up two fingers and then pointed to Derek's ears, then one finger and pointed to his own, silently answering his question. At Derek's nod, Isaac beamed, eyes glowing from the praise; Derek patted his arm and then shifted his ears again, to listen in on what they were talking about.

"Dammit Jesse, why are we taking him all the way to the Outpost, it's going to take all night. What if he attacks us?"

"Quiet! James wouldn't do that, besides he was just bit, the transformation can't happen that fast. The Outpost is the closest place that I know will take him in, I ain't going to leave him out here to die… or cause any problems for others."

The unnamed man grumbled under his breath before adding, "Do you think he'll be okay? I mean, what is the NCR going to do with him?"

As Isaac heard this, his breath hitched, he hadn't thought about how the NCR feels about Weres at all since he'd been changed… As it was, in the Scorpion Gang, you avoided the NCR at all costs- that had been ingrained in him, so he hadn't ever seen a soldier up close. Isaac should have realized it would be a problem, half of the people in the area didn't like Weres so it made sense the NCR might not either. But at the same time, no one had reported him to the NCR, so did that mean they didn't care?

The guy named Jesse was silent for a moment as he thought about it, "He should be fine, I mean, I wouldn't take him there if I'd heard any bad stories. I know a lot of people don't like Weres… but it's not James's fault you know? He didn't ask to be bitten, and he wasn't born like this. A lot of people are just afraid, I'm just hoping they'll have someone there that can help him get a handle on this you know?"

The group was quiet the rest of the way, Derek waiting until he could no longer hear their footsteps before standing up to look around. He nodded when he saw the coast was clear, helping Isaac to his feet. Slowly, they made their way back onto the road, still keeping their ears open for the sounds of footsteps, just in case.

"D-do you think the NCR will really help him? I haven't run into any of the soldiers yet, what do you think will happen?" Isaac asked, hoping Derek would have a good answer.

"Well, I think it's a good sign that when I crossed over the border, no one asked for my species status. I mean, I could have lied since I don't have the telltale signs of being a Were, but a lot of people know that not all Weres have their tails and ears showing. I think as long as you aren't causing problems, it will be okay; if anything they'll just want to make sure he's not a part of the Legion. They'll probably focus more on the Were that attacked him and where it happened; back where I was, they didn't persecute Weres for existing, only if you bit someone without their consent."

As he explained, Derek looked over at Isaac and could see him slowly calming down, "Honestly, in my experience, a lot of people dislike Weres because of the Legion, but if you aren't with them, most people will give you a chance. But I'm sure we'll still find places that refuse to do business with us, regardless of our affiliation." When he noticed the immense flood of relief coming off of his Beta, he quickly added, "And besides, since I'm responsible for you, I wouldn't take you out in your shifted phase if I thought it was dangerous. I'm new to the area, but I've dealt with the NCR before so I know how they operate, well at least on the basic level. I even know a few Weres that were in the NCR, although they had been bit during their career. But the point is that the NCR didn't discharge them for their change in species, just their allegiance.

"I'm glad you know so much about all this… I hadn't given it any thought once I was turned, I just knew a lot of people didn't like me now. But if I learn how to change or shift, it won't be a problem anyways."

They continued to walk in relative silence, quickly nearing a town, one that had a large beaten down roller coaster; Isaac's eyes widened, immediately recognizing it- they had made it to Primm.

"Can we stop here? I know that they accept Werewolves here, at least a little bit; I stopped by here on my way south to get some food," Isaac informed him as they neared the town.

"Sure, we should see if we can't find a place to stay for the day, I'm in no hurry to go anywhere," Derek answered.

They slowly wandered through the town, Isaac leading them towards a large building on their left. Derek looked up, Vikki & Vance Casino, interesting name; and across the way was the Bison Steve Hotel. Isaac led the way into the Casino first, clearly wanting to see what they had to eat, despite the fact they had food in Derek's pack. But to Derek's surprise, he was wrong, Isaac shyly turned to his Alpha and confessed his reason for coming here first.

"When I stopped by the first time, I saw that there was a Were working here; I didn't actually talk to her or anything, I got my food to go. But I'm hoping she'll help us out, tell us more about the area."

Derek smiled, "Sounds good, I'm glad they employ Weres here, I'm impressed."

They entered the Casino and most of the patrons turned to look at them, doing a slight double-take when they saw Isaac tail and ears. But no one accosted them so they stepped further into the building, heading over to the bar. On their way across the floor, a security guard quickly stepped up, holding up a hand for them to halt.

"Just want to check and make sure neither of you are affliated with The Legion, I'm assuming not since you aren't wearing their style of outfit, but one can never be too sure."

"No Sir, I hate the Legion, they're giving a bad name to Weres everywhere," Derek answered, doing his best not to growl.

Isaac shrugged, "I've never even met anyone from the Legion, so no."

The security guard chuckled at Isaac's answer, but waved them on, "Just wanted to make sure, we'd prefer if they didn't show up here and start trouble. Please have fun."

Derek nodded his head in understanding, glad that the good folks in the Legion wore distinguishing outfits. They sat down at the bar and asked the bartender what there was to eat, Derek only half listened, he was also busy scouting out the casino floor to get a feel for the people here. He wasn't surprised to see a few Weres here and there gambling at various machines, but it was mostly regular humans as far as he could tell. He and Isaac placed their orders and waited, Isaac belatedly worried about the money.

"I didn't even think Derek, I don't know how many caps you have, I still have some, but not a lot," Isaac mumbled.

"It's fine kid, if it was a problem, I wouldn't have ordered anything, don't worry about it," Derek assured him, patting his back.

Isaac brightened, glad that he hadn't made a mistake, then he perked up, catching sight of the same blonde Were from before. "There she is, she's the one I saw before."

Derek followed his gaze and saw a pretty blonde wolf carrying a tray to the various tables; she was wearing a very tight tank top, barely covering her bosom, and short black skirt, her tail coming out over the top of it and swaying freely. She must have picked up on Isaac's words, or their scent because she looked over at them and tilted her head, curious. After she had made her rounds, she came back over to the bar to pick up the latest orders and she stopped to talk with Derek and Isaac.

"Hey there boys, what brings you to Primm?"

"Just passing through really, Isaac here said that they were Were-friendly so we decided to stop for the night," Derek responded easily.

"For the night, there isn't much left of it really, but suit yourself. Name's Erica by the way, call me over if you need anything. Although, may I ask a question?"

"I'm Derek, and yes you may."

"Why is a human traveling with a Were?"

Isaac furrowed his brow, couldn't she tell that Derek was a wolf? She could surely recognize the scent by now, but Isaac took a quick sniff, and realized that Derek did smell human, much to his surprise. Derek just chuckled, flashing his red eyes at her as an explanation; Erica's ears perked up and her irises turned gold. She'd never actually met an Alpha before, or at least none that had identified themselves as one. Her own Alpha was long gone, once the people in Nipton had found out she'd been bitten, they notified the NCR of a dangerous Were in the area. It wasn't long before he'd been dispatched, but that still left Erica without a place to go. So she packed up her things and left, and here she was now, in Primm, with a job. Clearly he didn't want to let everyone know he was an Alpha, so she didn't say anything else, just smiled and took her tray of drinks.

Derek kept his eye on her as they ate, she seemed friendly enough, maybe when she got off work, they'd be able to talk with her, ask some questions. She definitely seemed like a more seasoned Beta, so maybe she'd even be able to give Isaac some pointers. But he did wonder where her Alpha was, surely she had been taught by someone, there was no way he'd run into two uneducated Weres in just a few days. Once they had finished their food, Derek paid the bill and they were heading out to the hotel just across the way, but before they left, he waved Erica over.

"I was wondering when you got off work?"

Erica gave him a look, brow raised, wondering if maybe he was trying to proposition her, but Derek quickly clarified. "I'm completely new to the area and Isaac isn't well traveled either. Maybe you could tell us a bit about the area? Even give Isaac some pointers? Hearing things from another Beta might help, especially a turned Were and not a born Were."

"You can tell that I'm a turned Were?" Erica asked.

Derek nodded his head, "There is the subtlest of differences in the scents between the two, most don't catch it, especially if the Bite was received a long time ago. But yours is still fresh enough for me to catch; would that be okay?"

Erica smiled, "Only if you tell me some stuff in return! But I'd be happy to, I don't get off for a few hours, and I'm sure you're tired. But I can be here in the morning, say around 8? We can talk then after I've gotten some sleep."

"Sounds good, thank you," Derek said, giving her a small nod before he turned away.

He could tell that Isaac had more questions for him, but he figured the young Beta was a bit too tuckered out to actually ask, so once they got their room for the night, Derek told Isaac to sleep.

"I'm sure you'll remember your questions in the morning, no hurry to ask them all now, I can tell the food made you sleepy. Get some rest, I'll wake you up when it's time to go meet Erica."

"'K, thanks Derek, for being a good Alpha," Isaac reiterated as he crawled into the bed.

Derek smiled and set his pack down, lying down on his own bed and shut off the lights. It felt good to sleep somewhere other than on rocks, he was going to sleep good tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay another chapter!!! Hope you're all enjoying it =D


	7. Saving Goodsprings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Powder Gangers come to town and Stiles and Scott help to fight them off!

*Goodsprings*

Scott and Stiles woke up just as the sun was peeking over the hills, both of them popping of the couch in a haphazard manner. They grumbled, half awake and stretching out their kinks, Stiles quickly bringing up breakfast.

"Think Sunny might share some food with us?" he asked.

Scott rolled his eyes, "We have plenty of food Stiles, we got all that Gecko meat from the other day, calm down."

"I'm just saying, it would be nice to actually have properly cooked food, from an actual kitchen, and not a fire," Stiles scowled.

Scott was going to respond but they heard Sunny walking around in the other part of the house; they probably woke her up and both boys felt embarrassed. But Sunny opened her bedroom door a moment later, completely dressed and smiling at them.

"Oh, glad to see that you're both awake, are you ready to go hunt some Powder Gangers?"

"Hell yea! Well, maybe eat first? I don't think too many others would be up this early," Stiles said hopefully.

"We've got some cooked Bighorner steaks if you want to eat on the run, I know those Gangers will be eager to make a move on us. We've got to collect the troops and get into positions, that Cobb doesn't mess around."

"We're pretty good at eating on the move, thanks for the meal," Scott immediately threw out there, being the polite person he is.

Sunny went into the kitchen and grabbed some of the dried steaks, tossing them at the boys as she made her way to the front door, "Come on, let's go!"

The boys both followed, munching on their steaks as they headed back towards the center of town (which wasn't far at all). On the way there, they passed by the farmer's house and Stiles paused, looking at the three Bighorners still in the pen then at the steak in his hand. Bighorners weren't rare at all, but he had never walked right by one as he was eating one of their brethren; Stiles felt a little guilty about it. Bighorners were gentle creatures (mostly), even if they were a little alarming to look at- they were large hybrid goat creatures with ram-like horns protruding from their skull, curling backwards. They had shaggy grey fur everywhere except for their face and top of their spine. The youngsters were already as tall as he was, and their momma was a good half foot taller than him. In his honest opinion, they face was the scariest part of them, with their bare pink skin and cruel looking gaze. Realizing that he fallen behind, Stiles waved to the Bighorners and crammed the rest of his steak into his mouth, jogging to catch up with Scott and Sunny.

"Alright, so we've got most of the participating people hanging out in the Saloon, waiting for the action to start. Everyone else is prepared to defend their homes until the all-clear."

"Where's What's-His-Name?" Stiles asked, almost choking on his meal.

"Ringo? He's still at the gas station, I'm about to go get him, so go ahead and find a position, things are going to heat up fast," Sunny replied.

Stiles nodded, "Sounds good, let's go Scott."

He pulled his rifle off his shoulder and scanned the surrounding area; as a sniper, he needed a nest to hide out in during the battle. He was by no means a close-combat expert so the further away from the actual fight, the better, he'd leave the hand-to-hand stuff to his brother.

"Hey Scotty, boost me up onto the roof, come on."

Scott readily agreed, figuring that was a pretty safe spot for him, with all the townspeople on the street level, the odds of one of the Gangers seeing him and taking him out were pretty slim. So they climbed up onto one of the rusty dumpsters on the side of the Saloon and then Scott gave him a quick lift, making sure he was properly settled before taking off across the street. The wind was coming in from a South-Southeast direction and he could smell Cobb, just barely- so he knew which direction they would be coming from. He crouched down behind the charred remains of an old house and waited, breathing in through his nose to catch the scent. It wasn't long before he heard the sounds of rustling all around him, it seems like everyone else in the town was making their move and preparing for the shootout.

A strong gust of wind came their way and Scott caught the strong scent of 'male' coming this way but when he searched the road, he didn't see anyone. Feeling a little apprehensive, he scanned the brush on either side of the road, easily picking up on the crawling forms that were coming closer. Apparently the gangers wanted to get as close as possible before being detected, but luckily for Goodsprings, Scott had been able to catch their scent and knew they were within a hundred yards. Scott twisted around and waved, catching Stiles's attention, easily signaling that there were about 5 guys he could see and that they were sneaking up from about 100 yards. Stiles responded with a thumbs-up before Scott heard him whispering the information down to Melissa. Assured that the people would prepare accordingly, Scott turned back around and started to creep forward, staying by the houses to conceal his presence. He was hoping to sneak up on a few of the gangers and quickly disable them, making it easier for everyone- the fewer that made it to the town, the quicker it would go. Scott disliked killing if it wasn't completely necessary, but had no problem rendering people unconscious and maybe breaking a few bones. Plus it didn't hurt that most wounds weren't very fatal to him so it was much safer for him to be out here than anyone else (even if no one but Stiles knew about his Werewolf status).

It wasn't long before he picked up on the sounds of the men preparing to spring up and make a dash for the town center; thankfully they were deciding to stick together as a group and head straight for the main defense and not go house to house to rustle up hostages. That made Scott's job much easier. He stayed crouched as they made their way past his hiding spot, the men slowly starting to stand up and get their weapons ready. Glancing around, Scott found a hefty rock and snatched it, taking deep breathes to calm himself and tune into his wolf senses. As soon as they were a few feet past the him, he crept up behind the slowest member, raising the rock up and bringing it down over the Ganger's head, trying his best to reign in his wolf strength. With his free hand, he caught the now unconscious man and slowly laid him down; thankfully none of the others had noticed him yet.

Scott realized then that his count had been off, including the guy on the ground, there were actually 7 Powder Gangers; shit, that meant Melissa wasn't properly prepared for this. Just as Cobb and a few others came fully into view and started shooting, Scott surged forward and grabbed another one of the men, no need for secrecy any longer. He wrapped his arms around the guy's throat, effectively getting him in a choke hold and holding on tight until he passed out- dropping him rather rudely onto the ground.

Up on the Saloon roof, Stiles was laid out, rifle perched on the edge, and wishing he had a scope. But, his eyesight was good enough, and it wasn't long before he spotted movement down the road; he readjusted his weapon in his shoulder and gave a low whistle, letting Melissa know he saw someone. He needed them to come closer, Stiles hated wasting ammunition and with no scope at all, he wanted a larger target to shoot at. Taking deep breaths and slowing his breathing, Stiles brought his heartbeat down-until a loud thump came from his right and his heart rate skyrocketed, the gun almost jumping right out of his hands. Looking to his right, he saw a burlap sack sitting there now, barely registering what he saw in it before he heard Sunny's low whisper.

"Pete's dynamite, he said to bring it straight to you or Scott and to not lose any limbs."

"Thanks," Stiles whispered back, one hand over his chest as he tried to collect himself again. "A little warning next time would be appreciated… good thing my finger wasn't on the trigger."

A quick scan of the road told him he had a few more moments to spare, so he reached into the sack and took out a few sticks of dynamite and lined them up on his left, along with his lighter. Satisfied, he readied his rifle again, just catching Scott take out one of the guys and then the shooting started. Instantly Stiles heard Melissa and a few others shoot back but most of their shots were wild and none of their adversaries went down. So he took aim and easily shot one guy in the chest, hardly taking time to register that he went down before he had focused on another target. The Gangers advanced quickly, knowing that their pistols weren't good at such a distance and that most of the settlers weren't the best of shots. Stiles swore, shooting down his second target before he released his rifle and picked up a stick of dynamite; once the fuse was lit, he raised to a crouch and threw the dynamite right into the Gangers path. Sadly they saw it land and scattered before it exploded, taking only minimal damage. But it paused their advancement and that was the main point-it gave him enough time to pick up his rifle again and continue shooting. Before he could take another shot, he heard a woman cry out in pain, from somewhere below him and pulled out his pistol. Without hesitation, he leaned over the roof and saw that Cobb had managed to get close- he had grabbed Melissa and was holding his gun to her head.

Time slowed down, it seemed like Stiles could count the seconds in between the shots fired just yards away. Stiles didn't hesitate, he thrust both arms forward and took aim; he had a crappy vantage point and Cobb was holding Melissa right in front of him so if his bullet passed through Cobb, Melissa would get hit too. He swore, deciding that he's have to wing him and just hope for the best so he aimed at Cobb's right arm, the one holding the gun and squeezed the trigger. Fate must have decided to be kind to Stiles that day because Cobb reacted by jerking his arm down once the bullet entered his skin- much better than reflexively pulling the trigger! Melissa immediately reacted, elbowing him in the stomach and ripped herself out of his grasp. But Cobb let her go, turning to look for the asshole that decided to shot him and it only took him a moment to register the skinny guy with his upper body hanging off the roof.

"You die," was all Cobb said, raising his .357 revolver.

Scott cheered when he saw Stiles shot down one of the gunmen; now that everyone was involved, Scott decided that it was time to head back to his brother. When he saw Stiles throw the dynamite a few moments later, he covered his sensitive ears and crouched down, waiting until it exploded to keep moving. He came up to the burned down building just as he saw Cobb kick Melissa shotgun out of her hands- when had he gotten that close? How had no one seen him? Melissa struggled but Cobb hit her across the face with the butt of his weapon and grabbed her, forcing her in front of him as a hostage. Scott wanted to call out, to get someone's attention but he also realized that if anyone saw Melissa like this, they'd probably give up the fight. Cobb couldn't win like that, especially when he'd still probably kill everyone here just because they stood up to him. Thankfully Stiles had also heard her cry out, Scott watched and he crawled forward and held out his out gun. Scott continued to creep forward, knowing Stiles was carefully lining up a shot, but he wanted to be ready to pull Melissa to safety.

Unfortunately Stiles wasn't able to get a debilitating shot, but it was enough for Melissa to get away and Scott rushed forward, pulling her behind him to shield her from any further injury. But Cobb hadn't come after Melissa, instead he looked up at Stiles, gun raised. Stiles cried out and barely managed to roll over when the first shot came, although it left him in a very precarious position. From here the world was upside down and he could feel gravity starting to drag him down off the roof. He kicked his legs wildly, trying to roll back onto his stomach and also give Cobb a very uneasy target, although he was only a few feet away. It was a miracle that the first bullet had missed him. Just before Cobb readjusted his aim, Stiles managed to roll over once more, hands pressed on the wall of the Saloon to steady himself. He heard a loud growl and suddenly Scott was behind Cobb, one hand under his chin and the other along the back of his head.

Stiles watched in morbid fascination as Scott, with his fangs out and amber eyes glowing, savagely twisting the Ganger leader's neck to the right. He barely registered the gasp from Melissa before he pushed himself back onto the roof, he needed to get down there and make sure no one else saw Scott! He stuffed the dynamite back into the sack, slung the rifle over his shoulder and holstered his gun. He jumped back down onto the dumpster and as soon as his feet touched the ground, Scott was there, nose pressed into his neck. Stiles held him close, letting him snuffle knowing that it calms him down and centers him; and everyone else was checking on Melissa.

"I'm fine Scotty, I'm fine, I promise," Stiles soothed.

Scott was fine after a moment longer, fangs receding back and eyes going back to their regular brown. "Good, I didn't almost lose you the other night just to have you get shot today!"

"Come on, let's go see what those Gangers were carrying," Stiles nudged.

Scott chuckled and let himself be led out towards all the bodies, keeping his head down and not looking at the others. They picked up some caps, a few more guns Stiles could patch up and resell and Cobb even had a Stealth Boy on him. As they were rummaging, Ringo ran up to them and gave Scott a small pouch of caps.

"Here, I really owe you boys a huge favor… technically this is Crimson Caravan funds, but they'll understand once I explain everything that happened. Thanks a bunch for decided to help me out, it really does mean a lot."

"No problem man, we can't let bullies like that come into this town full of nice people, I'm just glad we were around when it happened," Scott said, tucking away the caps.

"Yea, I mean, Sunny is one badass chick, but the more guns the merrier right?" Stiles added on, tossing a smile Sunny's way.

The townsfolk all helped drag the dead Gangers away from the town proper and left them to be picked off by the wildlife. Scott mentioned the two others he had dispatched, admitting that he had no idea if they were alive or not but Melissa said the town would take care of it.

"Thanks for saving me you two, I know you didn't have to, but you did," Melissa said, once the rest of the folks had walked away.

"Well, you are really nice, we couldn't let Cobb hurt you," Stiles told her.

Melissa smiled at them, "You both will always be welcome here, you've helped Goodsprings out a lot, and we never forget kindness."

"I-I don't know…" Scott mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"Really, it's fine Scott, your kind is welcome here; we know you aren't Legion and that's all that matters. Especially since you saved us all, so don't feel ashamed to be yourself around us."

"Do you mean that? I mean ever since I've learned how to control my Werewolf I've kept it hidden. Stiles helps me to keep it under control, I don't know what I'd do without him."

"I'm not going anywhere buddy," Stiles promised.

"I know you have places to go and that you really want to find the guys that roughed you up, but please come back and visit us."

"Of course we will, I mean I owe Deaton my life after all, I can't repay him if I never see him again."

"Speaking of Peter and them, where do you think we should head first? I mean, I know we don't want to go Quarry Junction, but I feel like we're not fully prepared to head to New Vegas yet. I don't know, I'd rather not rush things and have Stiles get shot again, but I also want to hunt him down as fast as I can and ruin him."

"Try heading to Primm, I remember Deaton mentioning that you were a courier, maybe talking with someone from the Mohave Express there will help. Maybe they could help you figure out why you were attacked."

Scott brightened, "That's a perfect idea Melissa! You're the greatest."

He pulled her into a hug, Stiles quickly joining in, wanting to make sure they both appreciated her. She ushered them in to have a few drinks, on the house of course, to congratulate everyone on winning. Most of the town was already in the bar, buying each other drinks and having a good time now that stress was gone. Stiles gave Scott a subtle look, silently asking if he could have some whiskey; Scott thought for a moment but he couldn't deny Stiles a few drinks, he'd done good today. Besides, Stiles definitely needed to relax, he'd been working hard before Peter shot him in the face and today he did save Melissa.

"Just don't drink too much, I'm not carrying you to Primm!" Scott warned.

Wouldn't think of it Scotty, you know I don't like to drink that much, just enough to enjoy the party."

Scott laughed as he watched Stiles head over to the bar to get a glass of whiskey to sip while they planned their next steps. He wasn't sure how far it was to Primm, his Pip-Boy didn't have it listed so that meant they hadn't been there yet but it shouldn't be a problem. He was glad that he'd gotten the Pip-Boy from his parents before they passed away; Stiles had one too and it was definitely helpful. This was the last time they took an assignment without actually visiting a Mohave Express to get exact instructions!

"Hey buddy, got you some Nuka-Cola," Stiles told him, sliding into the seat across from him.

"Thanks, I was feeling a little thirsty," Scott responded, "Hey, how far do you think Primm is from here? It's not on our Pip-Boys."

Stiles shrugged and the two of them began discussions, most of the other townsfolk stopping by at least once to thank them. Planning took until the late afternoon, Melissa stopped by every now and again bring them some more Nuka-Cola. Stiles tried not to lean into Melissa's touches; every time she walked by she gave them a pat on the back or ran her fingers through their hair. It made him miss his mother, and he really didn't want to think of her now, not when he needed to stay sharp. He cleared his head and leaned forward, putting all of his attention into what Scott was saying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter is here =D Hope you all are continuing to enjoy this story. And also for a few quick explanations.
> 
> Bighorners: They look like a large mix between a goat and a bovine, growing larger than the average person. As stated in the story, they have shabby gray hair that grows to medium length but there is no hair that grows on their faces or along their shoulder blades. Instead they have their bare skin which makes for a very fierce looking face, coupled with large horns sprouting from their heads. Raised Bighorners are docile but any that you come across in the wild are very territorial and will charge.
> 
> Pip-Boys: these are gadgets that one wears on their wrists and have very many useful functions. They keep a map of your location and of the places you've been, as well as allows you to keep notes (quests) so you don't forget where you are supposed to go or who you might need to talk to. It can even monitor your health and injuries, updating instantly as you are treated. Not everyone has Pip-Boys, there were mostly given to the citizens that lived in the Vaults to stay safe from the nuclear fallout years before. Many of the people out in the Wastelands don't have Pip-Boys as they were not born in the Vaults.
> 
> Stealth Boys: A rare device that lets the user become invisible... essentially. It cloaks the person with a stealth field for 2 minutes; it has a modulator that transmits the light from one side of the person to the other, making it appear as though they aren't there although if one looks closely or the users moves to fast, they are easily spotted.


	8. Trouble in Primm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Isaac are just unlucky... the same night they decide to stop in Primm, is the same time that Powder Gangers decide to take over the town. Derek isn't one to go looking for trouble, but he can't just walk away when some assholes have invaded a perfectly nice town.

*Primm*

Derek stirred as the sun was just starting to peek over the mountains, the sparse curtains not doing much to keep out the lightening sky. He looked over at Isaac and smiled, glad that he seemed to still be sound asleep. Standing up and stretching, Derek felt his stomach beginning to gurgle, hopefully Erica would be ready to meet with them soon. A loud crash and some yelling caught his attention; instantly he was crouched at the door, wolf ears out and listening.

"Who are you, what do you want?" some woman screamed.

"Shut up! Get outside, across the street or you'll get a bullet in your head," a gruff voice answered.

Shit, sounds like something serious is going on downstairs, Derek wasn't sure what to do about it. He had no way of knowing how many guys were down there, or if maybe the security was already taking care of the issue. He crept back to the bed and gently shook Isaac to wake him.

"Hey, Isaac, come on wake up, something's going on. We need to get out of here."

Isaac eyes opened slowly, not registering his surroundings right away, but when he saw Derek's ears, he sat upright. "What's going on?" he whispered.

"Sounds like someone is trying to take over the hotel, I have no idea how many or why, but I think it would be best of no one knew we were in here. I think the Casino is where they are putting the hostages. We're going out the window and heading over, might as well be with the rest of the town and figure out what's going on."

Isaac raised a brow, "Derek, we're on the second floor."

"It's not that far of a drop, just be ready to roll and you'll be fine. Remember, you're a Were now," Derek explained, gathering up their things.

Isaac nodded his head and put his shoes back on, then walked over to the window and cautiously opened it. Once Derek gave the okay, Isaac peeked out, making sure the coast was clear and gave Derek a thumbs-up.

"Alright, I'll hope down first, so you can see how to land, then toss me down the pack and jump out. Ready?"

"Yea."

Derek swiftly climbed out the window and dropped down, letting his knees collapse and dropped down onto his right shoulder. As soon as he was back on his feet, Isaac tossed down the pack and carefully climbed out the window. He took one deep breath before following suit, knowing that he'd be okay. As he fell, he kept thinking 'instinct, instinct' and trusted his body to do the right thing; as his feet hit the ground, he copied Derek and rolled (not quite as deftly) to his right.

"See, not so bad, let's go. Stay behind me, I have no idea how these people feel about Wolves," Derek ordered.

Isaac looked up and saw that Derek's ears were already back to human, so he had nothing to worry about. Once again Isaac cursed himself for not knowing how to disguise himself, especially at a time like this. But he'd be learning eventually and Isaac told himself to stay calm and accept his inner wolf, just like Derek told him; if he continued to hate on himself he'd never get the hang of things. They paused at the corner of the building, Derek scouting the area to make sure it was safe.

"Alright, we've only got one guy standing at the entrance of the hotel, if we make a run for it we'll be fine. And since he'd behind us, you run in front of me, I don't want you getting shot. Go!"

Isaac took off running, shoulders tense-just waiting for the shot but it never came. He heard the guy yell out, but since it was only a short distance to the casino, he didn't have time to do anything about them. As soon as they opened the doors, they saw a few guns pointed their way.

"Easy, easy, just some more people from the hotel. Glad you made it in here, I know they've been shooting a lot of people. Especially anyone that tries to leave town; I don't think we've met, I'm Johnson Nash," one of the older gentlemen said.

"Nice to meet you, although too bad it's not under better circumstances. What are we going to do about these intruders? Anyone even know who they are?" Derek asked.

"Well it would appear as though some of the escaped Powder Gangers found their way here and thought they'd take over the town. The NCR might come and help us, but I doubt it and I'm not sure how long we can stay holed up here. I'd say our best bet is to go save Deputy Beagle, he's the closest thing to organized law around here. The Powder Gangers, they uh, they killed the Sheriff and his wife. So all we've got is Deputy Beagle's sorry ass. But the Powder Gangers have him over in the hotel with them. And none of us feel like risking our necks to go save him."

Derek sighed, of course the only LEO (Law Enforcing Officer) around was already caught by those Ganger people. He looked around the casino, seeing who was gathered around- there weren't too many people. But there was Erica, hiding further back, behind the bartender with a shotgun.

"Isaac, I want you to stay here, talk with Erica while I go see what's going on across the street. Does anyone know how many people were staying in the hotel?"

Nash thought for a moment, "Maybe about 10 other people, a few of them are already dead for sure, but some did manage to escape town. No idea how many might be left in there though, and what the Powder Gangers are going to do with them."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out for anyone else that doesn't look like a Ganger. Either have them stay in their rooms or come over here, whichever might be safer at the time. If I'm not back within two hours, assume I've been caught."

"Derek, I'm not letting you go in there alone!" Isaac growled, holding onto Derek's arm.

"Isaac…" Derek sighed. He knew he couldn't bring this inexperienced Beta with him into such a dangerous place with an unknown number of assailants. If he really had to, he could Order Isaac to stay, but he didn't want to do that to his only Beta. Time to convince him the old fashioned way-

"Derek, I know I'm not that experienced but I can help you, watch your back or maybe help bring the civilians back here. It will go faster if there are two of us, and it will be good for me to experience this," Isaac spewed out in a rush.

"I'm not going to use such a dangerous situation as a training exercise for you, if you get hurt…"

Isaac squeezed Derek's arm, "I won't get hurt, I promise. If it turns out to be worse than we thought, I'll come back. But I can't stay here while my Alp- while you go off alone at a time like this."

Derek noticed Isaac catch himself, before outing Derek as an Alpha Werewolf, but he supposed it didn't matter if these people knew or not. The look in his eyes told Derek just how adamant the younger Wolf felt about this. Maybe it would be a good idea to have Isaac tag along, two pairs of ears was better than one, but it increased the chances of him getting distracted.

"I'll go too, I'm a more experienced Wolf than Isaac, so the two of us together should be able to help," Erica chimed in, stepping forward.

Surprised, both Isaac and Derek turned to look at her, but she had a valid point, so he couldn't turn her down as well. "Alright, both of you can come I guess, the more sets of eyes the better. But if I say head back, you should both head back. You're too young to be putting yourselves in such precarious situations. Let's go."

As Derek dug through his pack for some weapons, Isaac turned to Erica, "Why did you decide to come with us in there?"

After he'd found his knife, he handed it to Isaac, the pistol went to Erica. "I hope you can shoot," Derek called over his shoulder before giving the pack one last look through.

"Because, I'm tired of working here, I get the lowest pay because I'm a Wolf, and hardly any tips. Plus, every full moon, I get locked up in the basement, it's horrible. I figured if I can prove to Derek that I'm a good wolf, he'll let me join his Pack," Erica explained as she tucked the gun into the waistband of her jeans.

As Derek peeked out the door to check how many enemies there were across the way, he stiffened. Erica got locked up during the full moon? That was heartless! Erica seemed like a smart and strong person, he doubted that she still lost control to her wolf on the full moons so they shouldn't have to lock her up. But he didn't have time to think about that right now, it would have come later, after they helped out this town.

"Alright, there are two guys across the street, neither of them are looking this way, although they are carrying guns. I'll go over and take them out, you two stay here. I'll knock on the doors when they're taken care of. Then you'll both have some better weapons, Isaac I'm having you hold onto the pack; once you get the guns, you can put those weapons back into the bag."

They nodded in understanding as Derek held up his own 9mm pistol and ran out the door; they saw him duck for cover behind one of the destroyed cars in the street before the door closed and blocked him from sight. They heard three shots, then there was quiet; two knocks on the door and Derek's low voice telling them the coast was clear. Isaac and Erica glanced at each other, eyes wide, but they nodded and opened the door, joining the Alpha out front.

Together they strode across the street, Isaac and Erica picking up the dropped machine guns; and quietly entered the hotel, Derek heading in first, gun drawn. As soon as the door closed behind them, the group stilled and listened, trying to determine if there were any assailants nearby. Derek looked around and knew they are in for a tough fight. Already there were tables, tipped on their sides, being used as barricades. Derek has the two Betas crouch down and he leads them over to the check in counter on their right, behind the counter is a door. Derek would never just walk into a security room under normal circumstances, but they needed a place to talk about a plan. But of course the door is locked still, and Derek is hesitant to kick the door open and alert the whole hotel to their presence, so he unleashes a claw and starts attempting to pick the lock.

"Try the computer" Erica whispered, pointing up to the desk.

Derek sighed, "I don't do computers..."

"I do! Let me try real quick," Isaac stated quietly, sitting forward on his knees.

Derek keeps his eyes glued to the far wall, ears peeled for the sound of footsteps coming closer. Isaac cracks the computer with just a few keystrokes and unlocks the door. Grateful that he didn't have to break anything, Derek herds them all inside and quietly shuts the door behind them. As he's shutting the door, Derek hears a sharp intake of breath from Erica and he turns, expecting to see a Ganger. But instead there is a woman's skeleton... still covered in a dress but some of her bones strewn about.

"What is she doing in here?" Erica asked, eyes wide.

"I thought you were the one that lived in Primm?" Isaac said, staring at her incredulously.

"No clue, let's not worry about it though, body has obviously been here awhile since she's down to just the bones. We need to focus on coming up with a plan," Derek told them.

Derek searches the room quickly, finding a key labeled 'maintenance' as well as some ammo in one of the lockers along the wall. Isaac notices there's a safe along one of the walls and starts fiddling around with the number pad while Derek started talking about an appropriate course of action.

"Alright, so we have absolutely no idea how many men are here, or if there are any hostages besides Deputy Beagle. Erica, Isaac, since you have decided to come along, might as well make you exercise your senses. How many people do you think are here?"

Isaac paused on the number pad, eyes closed in concentration- he was still getting used to focusing his hearing, so pinpointing the heartbeats was hard… Especially when they moved around so much, it was hard to keep track. Erica seemed to have an easier time, but she was still very unsure of her final answer.

"Four that I can pick up for sure, but a few keep moving and I can't tell if I've already counted them or not," Isaac finally guessed.

"I've got five," Erica admitted, glad that her number was close to Isaac's. It made her feel better.

Derek just nodded, not commenting as he tried to think of a solid plan; there was a small group of them together in one of the large rooms. Without a visual representation, he wasn't surprised that the two Betas couldn't get a completely accurate read from heartbeats alone.

"You two have some rapid fire guns, so I don't want you using them right away, unless we get into a situation. The burst fire is sure to attract everyone's attention and have them swarming us. I'd rather avoid that for as long as possible. So if you can, stick with claws or a knife if you know how to throw one," Both Betas shook their heads. "I'm a pretty good shot so hopefully I can pick off any singles with a quick pop and not alert the others. Stay behind me at all times, unless we're running for cover- then I expect you to be in front of me."

Isaac and Erica both nodded, understanding that Derek was trying to keep them out of danger as much as he could. Next they went over a few quick hand signs, practicing them together a few times: stay, go, listen, watch, weapon.

"Alright, ready?" Derek asked.

Erica nodded but Isaac held up a hand, wanting to try the safe one more time, he had almost figured out the 4 digit combination. 30 seconds later Isaac threw his fist in the air and opened the door, finding a small cache of caps that he pocketed. Derek rolled his eyes, he could tell that Isaac used to belong to a gang of bandits; someone might notice the missing caps, but Derek let the boy keep them anyway. Ready to leave, Derek eases the door open and curses, there is one of the convicts standing in the hallway that leads to the rest of the hotel. They had been caught up in making plans, Derek hadn't focused on his hearing- but at least he was still about 25 feet away. He motions for the Betas to stay low and he creeps closer, digging his machete out of his bag. With a quick prayer, hoping that the other Ganger in the hallway (now that he was focused again, he could pick up on the heartbeat) was looking somewhere else, Derek throws the machete, lodging it in the guy's neck.; the man collapsing into the chair behind him. Derek listens, tries to determine how close the other guy might be... he sounds like he's pacing, perpendicular to the –now- dead guy. He must have his mind on other things since he didn't make a fuss about his friend just dropping into the chair; the machete wasn't really hard to spot, sticking out of his neck at that angle.

The group creeps closer to the hallway, Derek peeks around the corner and sees the single guy leaning against the counter at the far end, casually cleaning his nails now. No way he can go get the machete without being seen... way too risky. So he waved his hand behind him, signaling Isaac who digs out one of the handguns and passes it forward. If they are lucky, no one else will hear it and come running. Derek lines up his sights and gently presses down on the trigger, landing a good shot right in his temple. They lean back, waiting, listening, to see if any other convicts come to investigate, but none come. The three ventured forward, Derek making sure to grab the machete on the way. They quickly duck into a small room just a few feet away labeled gift shop and see it in shambles...not that it was really pristine beforehand... Burned and trashed books litter the floor and there are empty whiskey bottles everywhere; the shelves are all bare of their trinkets- the toy cars smashed on the ground. Derek shook his head, he couldn't understand why bandits felt the need to trash everything, it all seemed so senseless. Isaac cursed suddenly, startling Derek and Erica.

"Sorry," he whispered, "I found another safe here in the floor behind the registers, but it's got a 6 digit code, I don't have nearly enough skill to crack this."

Erica slapped him upside the back of his head, "Don't just curse like that, I thought something serious had gone wrong. Idiot!"

Isaac opened his mouth to retort but Derek glared at both of them and they closed their mouths, both looking reprimanded. Satisfied that there was still no one alerted to their presence, Derek led the way to the next alcove, just a few feet further down the hall, on the opposite side. No point in rushing, might as well progress slowly but steadily. As they were walking over, Erica gasped and pushed both of the wolves into the alcove, Isaac almost slamming into the elevator doors. Just as she tucked her tail out of view, they heard a man enter the large sitting room. Derek mentally cursed himself, thank goodness Erica had been focused- this was why he hadn't planned on starting a Pack… he wasn't quite the best at protecting others. He felt the familiar ache start in his chest, but he shoved it away, needing to keep it together for these two right now.

At his questioning brow, both Isaac and Erica assure Derek there is just the one man that entered the sitting room, so Derek leans out, after handing Erica the machete, and shoots the guy. The first shot doesn't drop him and Derek sees that he's wearing body armor-shit. A second shot finds its way in his neck, silencing him and Isaac rushes forward and snaps his neck while Derek and Erica listen for rushing footsteps. After a breath, they realize that their luck is holding so they quickly search the corpses and moved on, pocketing some caps and spare ammo. So far Derek was glad that the two other wolves hadn't needed to fire a shot. Hopefully that luck would hold because now came the tricky part... on the far end of the sitting room, there was a large arch way, that split off to the left AND right, both short hallways leading to the dining area... There was also the maintenance door, and then the stairway alcove, a few feet beyond the elevator... Really, their enemies could suddenly enter the room from quite a few directions, his hackles raised at that thought. Derek let Erica check the stairway, without going all the way up, Isaac used the key to unlock the side door and Derek kept his weapon trained at the large archway. With the door unlocked, and the stairway clear, the group entered the maintenance area; the hallway was original a large T, but the path going straight had collapsed long ago so they only had the path shooting off to the right.

"Derek, I'm picking up a distressed heartbeat, maybe it's the deputy," Isaac whispered, ears perked forward.

"It's Deputy Beagle, I recognize his skeezy scent," Erica stated.

"Let's go get him. Then we should clear the rest of the building I suppose," Derek told them both, barely audibly. This close to a hostage, Derek didn't need any sounds giving them away, there were bound to be gang members close by.

As they slowly moved along, they all picked up on the sound of approaching footsteps and they paused. Isaac and Erica held up their weapons, waiting for the shitstorm... This was where at least 4 of the Gangers were holed up; when Derek took this guy out...the others would come- there was just no way Derek could get close enough to kill him silently. With a sigh of frustration, Derek raised his pistol and shot the guy in the head as soon as he walked by the doorway, hat flying off his head. Then more footsteps came running towards them, Isaac and Erica firing as soon as they saw shadows coming close. The first guy dropped easily, not expecting the sudden barrage, but Derek saw a huge man, covered in armor and carrying a suspicious looking weapon, come stomping up to the doorway.

"Get back! Now!" Derek ordered.

The three of them started back pedaling as soon as the Ganger cleared the doorway, he crouched down and unleashed a barrage of flames down the hallway as the other gang members shot at them from over his shoulders. Erica yelped as the flames rushed at her, her tail catching fire, and just before they made it to the safety of the corner, Isaac grunted in pain. Isaac slid around the corner, hands on his thigh, and Derek grabbed a hold of Erica, shielding her with his body the last few steps. Just in time too, Derek felt a bullet slam into his shoulder, a shot that Erica probably would have taken to the head.

"Shit"-Isaac panted, pressing down on his leg. "That really freaking hurts! I'm healing though, I'm fine, what about you?"

Erica whimpered as she patted out the flames on her beautiful tail, hands burning from the contact. She sat back on her heels, holding her hands out to watch them heal and then turned to Derek. "It will grow back right?" She asked, not caring if she sounded vain or not.

Just then Derek pulled something out of his pack, gestured for the Betas to take cover and pulled a pin. Their eyes widened as they realized he was holding a grenade, letting it cook before rolling it towards the Gangers. They all covered their ears as the hallway exploded, Derek casually hoping the hostage hadn't been too close.

Now that they had a few seconds, Derek looked at his Betas, "It was a through and through right, the bullet isn't still in your leg?" Isaac affirmed that there was no bullet. "We'll have to trim away the burnt hair, but by tomorrow, it should all grow back, just like before," he assured Erica next. "I took a bullet in my shoulder, glad it wasn't in anyone's head though. I'll be fine for now, we can pull the bullet out later and let it heal after this."

"I can get it out," Erica stated, not wanting him to be in pain. She used her claws to reach into the wound and grab the bullet while Isaac gave short bursts cover fire. Occasionally the guy with the incinerator would lob flaming rounds at them, but they bounced harmlessly off the back wall.

"Killed one of the shooters, the other guy practically ate the grenade from what I can tell. All that's left is that fire guy and I can't touch him" Isaac called out while Derek healed.

Derek cursed, "He's too armored... We'll have to get close to him..." Derek knew they didn't have time to sit around though and quickly came up with a solution, "I'm going to go back through the sitting room and see if I can't sneak up on him, take him out that way. If we're lucky he probably thinks I'm out for the count and you guys refuse to leave me here. Keep him at bay as long as you can, but if he advances, just run. Fire is too dangerous, it can easily get out of control, and that incinerator lobs those canisters pretty far. Stay safe."

Isaac and Erica both nod their heads in promise to be super careful, neither of them wanted to get burned. Satisfied, Derek stealthily ran to the dining area, pausing just outside to double check the room before blindly entering. It only took him seconds to hear a quick heartbeat and labored breathing coming from inside the big room, probably some new kid that saw his buddy get blown apart by the grenade. Too bad. From his spot in the hallway, Derek pinpointed the convict's position by his heartbeat before rushing into the room and easily picking him off. Now that the way was clear, Derek ran into the small kitchen area coming up from behind the last Ganger and slammed his claws into his back- slashing downward. As he hit the ground, Derek calls out to the Betas, needing to hear that they were both fine. He felt his some of the tension leave him as both of them popped up from around the corner and came up to him, Erica quickly checking him for any wounds.

"Don't suppose you're here to rescue me, although I'd be a bit surprised if a group of blood thirsty savages were my rescue party," a voice said from behind them.

All three of the wolves tensed as they turned around, glaring at the man on his knees, hands tied. Isaac couldn't hold in his growl but at least he didn't march forward and punch the guy, although Erica did take a few steps before reining herself in.

"Deputy Beagle, I'd think you'd be more cordial to the people that just saved your life," Derek responded coolly, eyes flashing red.

The deputy eyes them before smiling sheepishly, "Yea, you're right, I'd be most appreciative if you'd set me free. That earlier comment was coming from my past experiences with The Legion. I honestly thought you were a scouting group or something, probably going to kill me anyways."

Isaac snorted, catching the lie in his heartbeat, but Derek was the one to comment, "If you really thought we were Legion, I'd think you'd have better sense than to open your mouth at all. Insulting a Legion member is the best guarantee to a slow death. If you'd honestly had any prior experience with The Legion, then you'd know we weren't with them… we aren't wearing clothes from that faction."

"Well, maybe you were scouts in disguise," Beagle floundered, realizing that they were aware he had been lying.

"Legion doesn't disguise themselves, not ever. They want everyone to know when they are coming. If they want to do things that require espionage, they talk a human into doing it for them. You're lucky I promised Nash that I'd do my best to get you out of here, or else I'd leave you here to rot," Derek growled, bending down in front of the cowardly man.

Erica spoke up, her disdain for the man clearly coming to the surface, "You know, we can just shoot him, say he was already dead when we got here. No one would know, and I honestly don't think they'd care."

Derek shook his head and untied the deputy, "Primm still needs some form of law around here, and I'll be damned if they think they're going to ask me to stick around and be the Sheriff.

Beagle tried to hide his nasty smirk at that comment, like anyone in Primm would want a dirty Werewolf as a sheriff. Maybe if they continued to wander the hotel, they'd get picked off by the remaining troublemakers. "Well, you three seem like you've got things covered on your own... I'd just be in the way... See you outside," he called to them as he ran out of the kitchen.

"Ugh, he's so slimy... I hate him" Erica commented as they all watched him run away.

"Let's just hope he doesn't get promoted to Sheriff after this… this town would go to Hell in a heartbeat if he was left in charge. Let's keep going, there should only be a few stragglers left," Derek commented.

The wolves make their way back to the stairwell, Derek in the lead. Thankfully the hinges on the doors didn't squeak as they came up to the second floor. Derek easily pinpointed a few heartbeats through the thin walls and knows that none of them are particularly close, so he ushers the Betas close to him.

"Check that machine, see if there is any soda left in it, if so, both of you should drink some. The sugar will help perk you up after needing to heal. I'll keep an ear out," Derek whispered.

Isaac carefully pries open the old Nuka-Cola vending machine, seeing three sodas lying at the bottom. He passes on to Erica and snags another for himself before quietly closing the door. As he popped the top, Isaac tried to keep in a small sigh, this one was still cold! After they had both downed their drinks, Derek pointed to his ears, then to his chest, silently prompting them to figure out how many people were up here with them. Erica and Isaac look at each other and quickly decide to focus on separate sides of the hotel, giving them a smaller area to focus on. Within a moment, Erica holds up three fingers and points straight, indicating that they were on the other side of the wall, on that back side of the rooms. Derek nodded his head, correct; then he turned to Isaac. Isaac held up two fingers, then pointed to the left, they were probably just out of view down this hallway. Another nod from Derek, along with a final finger, then pointing upwards, letting the Betas know that there was also a single man up on the third floor. Now that they had the enemies' spots pinned down, Derek gave the wolves the go ahead.

Erica and Isaac rush forward, Erica with a dark grin on her face, and take out the two Gangers just around the corner. They both use their claws, slamming them into the men's soft throats- silent kills. They quietly lower the bodies to the floor and wait for Derek; the next three were patrolling the far hallway, even though rooms are empty. Isaac decided to knock on wall, luring the guards to rush around the corner and investigate; Erica and Derek already had their guns raised and easily shot them down. Since the elevator wasn't working, they had to find another way up to the third floor- the stairwell going up there had collapsed long ago. But if there was a Ganger up there, that meant there was a way up. A quick search of the rooms reveals a collapsed ceiling making an easy trail up. They carefully scaled the rubble, doing their best not to make noise, even though he must surely know someone was coming. From the top of the pile, they could see the convict looking around nervously, he was expecting them to show up but wasn't venturing far from the door he was guarding- clearly there was something in that room he didn't want them to get to. Derek shook his head in surprise… had he really not heard them climb up here? Human hearing must be dismal, but then again, Derek had never been human so he had no idea just how limited they were. They waited until he looked in a different direction, trying to pinpoint where they would come from, and they rushed him, Isaac and Erica shooting. His head whipped around as they ran forward, but he wasn't prepared for three adversaries and was easily overpowered.

Derek searches his body and finds an old key in one of his pockets, and after a quick trip around the room, found out that it belonged to the desk in the corner. With a shrug, Derek unlocked the desk and opened it, and it was full of guns and ammo, jackpot. They all reloaded their weapons and packed away as much extra ammo as they could, as well as a few more pistols, they might be able to sell them and get some caps in the future. Erica also found her own machete in there, tossing Derek's back to him as she strapped this one to her thigh.

"We're going to need more packs... I've got my own, just need one for Isaac now," Erica commented.

Derek didn't comment on the implication of her joining them, instead he just helped Isaac loot the rest of the bodies, taking caps and a few spare weapon parts, so they could patch their beat up guns. Once they were sure they'd checked everything out and all the Powder Gangers were dead, they walked out of the hotel and went back into the casino. As soon as they entered, Beagle came up to them and started talking, hands on his hips like some big-shot LEO.

"Man we sure handled those convicts didn't we? Breaking out of a hostage situation like that- not to diminish your slight role in helping out- sure is quite a thrill. But the problem remains- with no Sheriff in Primm, what are we going to do the next time some ruffians come into town and take us hostage?"

"Not my problem. I'm out of here." Derek growled, absolutely done with Beagle's shit. He turned to Isaac, "Goodsprings isn't far right Isaac? I'm thinking we can make it there soon and spend the rest of the day there."

"Yea, it's really close. And we should make it there before the worst of the afternoon heat if we leave right away. We can rest there until evening and figure out where to go next," Isaac confirmed happily.

"I...I can come with you right? I mean officially, I want to join you guys," Erica asked, eyes full of hope.

"You don't have an Alpha already?" Derek asked warily, no way was he going to get into a territory dispute.

"No, long story, I can share it while we're on the road. Let me come with you, please. It will take me like, 5 minutes to pack. Don't go without me," Erica pleaded.

"Go ahead and pack, you can come with us," Derek sighed. He knew he couldn't leave her here, not after hearing about how she got locked up every month, and especially not with the way Deputy Beagle kept throwing her dirty looks and licking his lips like a pervert. Derek had no doubts that he might push himself on Erica if he left her here alone, especially after what happened back at the hotel. Sure, Erica could easily take him down, but that would just bring the rest of the town down on her, regardless of her reasons- attacking a deputy was just asking for trouble. Even if said deputy was a total sleazeball.

"I won't let him leave without you, promise," Isaac called out as Erica ran upstairs to get her stuff. When Derek looked over at him, he saw that Isaac had come to the same conclusion, if the look on his face was anything to go by. The Alpha sighed, he really wasn't ready to take on a single Beta, and now he was going to have two follow him? He swore he'd do his absolute best to protect them, but a large part of his wondered if they'd stick around if they knew what was in his past. Luckily he didn't have long to dwell on it, Erica came rushing back down the steps, a large pack thrown over her shoulders, calling out a quick goodbye to the bartender and a few other residents before smiling up at Derek.

"All set, let's go!" Erica cheered, ready to get out of this town.

Derek waved to Nash as they walked out, knowing that he was at least a good guy that deserved a somewhat proper goodbye. Erica hummed quietly as they took to the road, the sun just really starting to shine down on them, it was maybe around 10 o'clock. That little raid took longer than he thought, but it paid to be careful, and all three of them had gotten out alive so Derek couldn't complain. The group didn't talk much, despite Erica's promise of a story once they got on the road, she was just too ecstatic to be leaving, and Isaac was brooding for some reason, his scarf pulled up over his mouth once more. Derek just decided to enjoy the morning and didn't press either for conversation, silence was just fine with him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long awaited chapter! As I said on my tumblr, although I know not all of you check that, I have been really busy. This is a fic that requires me to play the game as I write (well, I require myself to, I want this story to be as awesome as possible, and sticking to the game in scenes like this, is a something I want to do), I want to do more than just write from memory. And seeing as how I was busy... I didn't have time to play the game... I have been wanting to work on this story so much! I just didn't have time. But it's here now! I hope it doesn't disappoint! I've read through it a few times so I really hope there aren't many mistakes, and I apologize if there are!
> 
> Incinerator: This is a weapon in Fallout that is similar but not quite the same as a Flamethrower (just called Flamers in the game). Incinerators are large weapons that shoot flaming canisters at its targets instead of just a large stream of fire. Normally, incinerators ONLY fire canisters... but in my playthrough, this guy was also able to use it as a Flamer... I've never been able to do that... it's either one or the other but this guy got both. I have no idea how that works, but whatever. Just wanted to quickly explain the difference =)


	9. A Brief Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Stiles head out, around the same time Derek and his two Betas do. They end up crossing paths on the road and have a short conversation before heading in different directions.

Scott and Stiles were on the road again, heading towards Primm, hoping to get some answers; the people of Goodsprings were nice, but they had something they needed to get done. As they traveled down the road, they kept quiet, always listening for sounds of someone coming towards them. It wasn't long before they saw someone up the road, sitting on one of the rocks, a Brahmin standing beside him. As they drew nearer they realized that the guy was actually a Werewolf, maybe a year or two older than them, his ears and tail being a dead giveaway.

"Hey there, how are you?" Stiles asked, hand casually resting on his holster, just in case.

The dark-skinned teen looked them over, "I'm good, and you two?"

"We're doing just fine. I don't suppose you'd be a merchant?" Scott asked, listening carefully to his heartbeat.

After pausing a moment, he answered, "Yes I am, although I don't have much; you're free to check out what I've got."

"Oh thanks, I'm hoping we can pick up some food, I'd rather not eat the Gecko meat if we don't have to," Stiles sighed in relief.

"I'll trade you for some Gecko meat, as long as it's fresh."

Stiles nodded his head, "We killed these ones the other day, I just don't like the chewy texture. What do you have to trade?"

The group bartered, the Were offering them 3 boxes of Dandy Boy Apples and 2 coyote steaks for 3 of their Gecko steaks. Stiles rubbed his hands together as Scott packed up their new food, happy to have some variety.

"Thanks a ton man, maybe we'll see you around again if we come back this way," Stiles said, waving to him.

"Name's Boyd, I work with a few other Weres as a band of traders, if you give me your names, I'll let them know that you're safe to trade with. I'm sure you can image we're a bit wary when it comes to humans."

Scott nodded in understanding, "Yea, we've come across a few that are really anti-Were… and it makes no sense I mean, some of you started out as human, maybe even got bit without your consent… it's not your fault. And a lot of you do the best you can, I mean, you're making an honest living, you aren't hurting others, so they have no right to discriminate against you."

"Yea, that's what we're trying to help show everyone, but some people are just very close-minded."

"Our names are Stiles and Scott by the way, it was nice to meet you. Although, you look slightly intimidating, I'm sure you don't run into too much trouble looking like that," Stiles joked lightly.

Boyd shrugged, "Usually not, but I do get some people that try and cheat me, and of course I stand my ground- I know what's a good deal and what isn't. So they get mad and walk away. But regardless of what they might do, I'm not supposed to fight back unless my life is really in danger, humans are too easy to hurt you know?"

Stiles couldn't hold back his laughter, pointing at his head, "Oh yea, I know that all too well."

The three of them waved to each other and split apart, Stiles and Scott continuing down the road, Boyd sitting back down on his boulder. He watched them as they continued to walk away, if he was lucky, his good fortune would hold out all day.

The boys continued to make their way down the road at a leisurely pace, no point in wasting too much energy. They had set off during the early afternoon, planning on going through the night when it was much cooler, with just a slight break during the worst of the heat. After about an hour, Scott held his hand up, halted Stiles immediately; the pair stood there while Scott sniffed the air, his eyes turning golden amber.

"Is it Peter?" Stiles mouthed, not wanting to give away their position.

Scott shook his head, no, but he did put his hands up, two fingers on either side of his head to communicate that it was definitely wolves that he smelled. Stiles nodded his head and pulled the rifle off of his back, but keeping it pointed at the ground. If they could get away without a fight, that'd be better for them. It took Scott a few moments to pinpoint where the Weres were hiding, but he pointed towards a small outcropping of rocks; apparently they had seen the pair coming and decided to hide.

Stiles waited a moment, internally debating if they should just keep going, but he didn't want to get ambushed. "Come on out, we know you're there. I'd prefer to not have someone thinking they can ambush us as we walk by," he called out.

The pair stood stock still, patiently waiting for the others to come out; they ended up waiting over 5 minutes, the Weres really didn't want to come out. But they did finally appear, and Stiles had to tighten his grip on the rifle so he didn't drop it. He really didn't want to get into a fight with this bunch, the man in the leather jacket had the aura of an Alpha, so the other two must be a part of his Pack. Stiles quickly assessed the Betas: one was fairly tall and had his mouth and nose covered by a blue scarf, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, the hood of his jacket pulled up over his head. He had his arms crossed menacingly and his stance was aggressive, blonde tail whipping the air behind him. The other Beta was a girl, she had on ripped jeans and a skimpy tank top, but the machete holster strapped to her thigh and her bared claws told Stiles she wasn't a push over. As he continued to look her over, he noticed the singed hair on her tail and frowned-how did that happen? He looked up, seeing her amber eyes glowing and a snarl on her red lips and realized she probably didn't want to talk about it.

"Easy everyone, let's just stay calm," Stiles started to say, before the female took a few menacing steps forward.

Scott immediately stepped between her and Stiles, baring his teeth at her. The Alpha held out his hand, stopping her, but he let out a low growl, staring daggers at Stiles.

"How dare you! Making this Were act like your personal bodyguard, how much did you pay for him?" he snarled, eyes glowing red, even behind the glasses.

Stiles's mouth dropped open, "What? What the hell are you talking about? Scott's like a brother to me you asshole! I didn't 'buy' him!"

Derek's eyes dimmed, hearing the truth in his heartbeat, "So he isn't a slave?"

"NO! God, what is it with grumpy Werewolves wanting to kill me? First that fucking Peter asshat, and now you, geez, can you like send out a Wolf memo or something?"

"Maybe you just give off this aura of 'kill me, I'm annoying'" Erica threw in, crossing her arms and jutting out a hip.

"Erica, hush," Derek told her, "I don't have a problem with you if you aren't keeping him as a slave. We'll be on our way."

Scott slowly nodded his head, dropping the defensive posture, but Stiles leaned forward, looking closely at the Alpha.

"You don't know a Peter do you? You kinda look like him, just a little bit. You probably don't, it's a long shot." Derek shook his head no, the only Peter he knew was dead. "What was his last name? Hane, Halk, no… Hale, that's it, Peter Hale."

Derek paled, stepping closer to the boys, "Peter Hale is dead, why are you looking for him?"

Stiles blinked at his sudden change in attitude, "What do you mean he's dead? That asshole, I'm supposed to be the one to kill him, damn it! You see this scar? He gave it to me, shot me in the face, for no reason! Too bad for him I didn't die."

"You hold a really long grudge kid, but you're better off forgetting all about it, he's dead, I assure you."

"How do you know? Are you the one that killed him? And what do you mean a long grudge? This was like 2 days ago! Or is it technically 3? It doesn't matter, it wasn't that long ago."

Derek snarled, "That's impossible, he died 6 months ago, in a fire, with the rest of my family!"

Stiles slammed his mouth shut, he hadn't been ready to hear that; but there was no forgetting the Were that shot him in the head. The two Betas were inching closer, picking up on Derek's bad mood, teeth bared again.

Scott stepped in, trying to defuse the situation, "Maybe it's just a coincidence, maybe it's not the Peter you're related to. He was about this tall, brown hair, a goatee, maybe early 30's, an asshole?"

"What color were his eyes?"

"Red, he's an Alpha in fact, he's the Alpha that bit me when I was 11. Left me to deal with the repercussions too; then he decided to reappear all these years later. One more thing to thank him for when we catch up to him," Scott said, eyes glowing again with his anger.

"That sounds just like my Uncle Peter, but he has to be dead…" Derek trailed off, suddenly unsure.

"Oh, don't worry, he'll be dead when I finally catch up with him," Stiles promised, venom in his voice. "Look, it's whatever, unless you were hoping to meet up with him, it doesn't really concern you. Sorry to waste your time. Come on Scott, we've got to move."

"Be careful on the road to wherever you're headed," Scott added, stepping in line next to his friend.

"Goodsprings," Isaac called out, much to his own surprise.

Stiles snorted, "None too soon, we just helped get rid of all the Powder Gangers there, those dumbasses decided to try and attack the town."

The Beta quickly stepped forward, "Is Melissa alright?"

Scott raised his eyebrows, "You know Melissa?"

"Yea, she gave me shelter when I had nowhere else to go, tell me she's okay," he pleaded.

"Yea, dude, she's fine. She's a tough gal, I wouldn't worry about her, she wasn't going to let no gang come in and raid her town!" Stiles laughed. "Tell her hi from us, Stiles and Scott," he added, gesturing to himself and then Scott.

Isaac slumped in relief at their words, glad that Melissa was still alive, he turned around and went back to Derek, ready to move on. But Derek stood there, watching the pair of boys as they slowly continued on their way; did they really run into his Uncle?

"Come on you two, might as well keep going, let's just forget about this. At least this time we won't have to deal with the damn gang members… Twice in one day is just too much."

The Pack turned and continued to head north, staying on the road now that they were alone again. Derek had been surprised at first that they had been called out like that but he hadn't scented the air, if he had, he would have quickly realized one of them had been a Werewolf. Derek had been more focused on keeping his two Betas out of view, which of course hadn't gone according to plan. Luckily for all of his Pack, they hadn't been looking for a fight-as it was, the two boys only seemed to call them out so they would be comfortable knowing they weren't planning a sneak attack on them. But still, that news about Peter, that was throwing him for a loop… there was no way Peter could still be alive, he had been in the house with everyone else, well everyone besides Laura. But over the years they'd lost touch, he hadn't heard from his sister in awhile, he hoped she was doing well. Some yelling up ahead caught his attention and pulled him from his thoughts, both Betas tensing up beside him.

"Such a useless pile of fur, ain't ya?" a gruff voice called out.

Derek's hair stood on end, the air was full of anger and hurt, he could hear the sound of boots meeting soft skin. Beside him Erica whimpered, hand reaching out to clutch at her new Alpha, eyes wide.

"Were, they're hurting a Were," she whispered.

Derek looked further down the road and took in the scene quickly, noticing that Erica was right. Up ahead there were three men, all huddled around a fourth- the Werewolf- who was on the ground. Apparently he was just letting them ransack his stuff, and taking their beating without lashing out. Derek felt his eyes go red, and knew that he couldn't let this go on; with a mighty roar, he pushed Isaac and Erica gently to the side and charged forward. Two of them men quickly ran away, terrified by his challenge, but the third man stood his ground, gun in hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Derek spat out, knocking the man back with a harsh shove.

"Teaching this no good whelp his place," the man responded, racing heart belying his calm demeanor.

"Leave, now!" the Alpha snarled, fangs out.

"You've got no right to boss me around wolf, I ain't your kind. I ain't scared of you neither," the man argued, raising his gun.

Derek took a few menacing steps closer to the idiot, "Don't make any mistake, just because I haven't torn you apart yet, doesn't mean that I won't. This Werewolf was obviously showing you a kindness by not defending himself- even the weakest of Omegas could have taken on you three assholes. If you think you can just go around beating up others, I'm here to tell you differently. Now go, or you'll be learning a harsh lesson."

"Now see here beast! I've got a gun, and I'm not afraid to use it on you if I have to. You're all a waste of space, you hear me?" he yelled, gun raised-shaking slightly.

In a flash, Derek was on the man, the gunshot ringing through the air, causing Erica and Isaac to rush forward to make sure their leader was okay. There was the smell of blood in the air, but Derek hadn't slowed down in the slightest, instead, he had the man pressed face down in the dirt, gun ripped apart. He had blood trailing down his arm, but he wasn't letting it stop him from pressing his claws into the man's back.

"You think Werewolves are beasts do you? You think that all of us are the same? Well you better remember that we aren't. What if I were to bite you, huh? Turn you into a Were? How would you like us then? We'd be the ones keeping you safe, from your so called friends. They'd be the first to try and hunt you down, do you think they'd give a crap about you once they'd learn what you'd become?"

"You can't bite me, that's against the law here, you ain't got my consent!" The man wailed, careful not to squirm because of the claws in his back.

"I'm sure if you were to have some sort of fatal wound, and biting you was the only way to save you…maybe consent wouldn't be as important then, don't you think?"

"I ain't got no fatal wound, and even then I'd rather die than become one of you!"

Derek smirked, "That's not the smartest thing to say to the man that has his claws in your back. But I'm not going to bite you, I can already tell that you would succumb to the pain and die… you aren't strong enough to become one of us. You think you're better than us, but the fact is, we have more humanity than you, because we have a dual nature. We can understand what humanity is while you take it for granted. The problem is, some Weres lose their way, or become overpowered by the wolf and lose their sense of what is right and wrong. That's why it's important to have Pack, to stay grounded…. What excuse do you have for savagely beating a teenager? One that was refusing to fight back, knowing he'd hurt you? You're the monster here, remember that!"

With one final snarl, Derek punched the guy on the ground, easily knocking him unconscious, and pulled his claws out from his back. He looked over to the teenager behind him, "Are you alright? It looks like you're already healing."

"Yea, I'm okay, they didn't do any serious damage, mostly just ransacked my pack, and probably stressed poor Callie out," he said, reaching out to pet the stressed out Brahmin. They heard her give out a high pitched moo, a clear sign of stress.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure my sudden appearance didn't help things either," Derek muttered, slowly standing up.

"Naw, she's used to Weres, my traders group breeds them, and she's been around a few different Were fights. She's come to realize that we never hurt her, regardless of what scary sounds we make. But being handled roughly by some strangers definitely isn't going over well with her," Boyd explained, patting the bovine-esque creature on her muzzle.

"Why don't you come to Goodsprings with us, I'm sure Callie here would like a safe place to recover, and they are friendly to Weres," Derek offered, not wanting the other Beta to just be left here on his own.

Boyd nodded his head, "Yea, I think that would be a good idea, I'd rather not be here when that guy wakes up anyways. I'm Boyd by the way, thanks for stepping in, sorry to cause you trouble with Humans."

Derek shrugged, "Trouble is nothing new to me, and I doubt they'd come hunting for me, they are the kind of guys that fight with those that can't fight back. They won't come looking for a fight, and I highly doubt they'll report it, because harassing innocent Weres is frowned upon here."

Erica and Isaac both crowded in a little closer to the new Were, now that he was going to be going into town with him, they figured they'd check him out a little more.

"Hi, I'm Erica, newest member of the Pack, just joined today! And this is Isaac, he's kinda quiet but he's a good guy. That's our Alpha Derek, who failed to introduce himself, nice to meet you Boyd," she offered with a smile on her face.

"Nice to meet all three of you," Boyd responded, nodding his head in greeting.

"All set to move on? The sooner we get to Goodsprings, the sooner we can rest," Derek said, looking at the group. When all of them nodded their heads, they began walking, knowing they'd be there before too much longer.

*Primm*

Stiles and Scott walked in silence for awhile, not wanting to talk about anything important-just in case the other Wolves were listening. Stiles was thinking about what the Alpha had told them… clearly he knew this Peter, and they looked related. Once he felt like they were clear of the others, Stiles turned to his brother.

"Hey Scott, I know you don't know much more about me when it comes to Wolves, but do you think it's possibly for a family to have multiple Alphas in it?"

"Uh… maybe not naturally, not if you are all one big Pack; but I know that you can take Alpha power from someone if you kill them, why?"

Stiles looked over his shoulder, "Well that guy back there was an Alpha, and Peter was an Alpha. They are related somehow, so I was just wondering how that happened."

"It wouldn't surprise me if Peter went out and stole his Alpha power from someone. That Hale back there said his whole family died, so that might be how he got his Alpha powers, inheriting it when his family's Alpha died. But Peter bit you years ago, so that means if he did take it, it was a long time ago. So why would he stick around with his family if he wanted to be on his own?"

"Who knows, maybe they were all really close, I mean that guy back there seemed real friendly, just like his uncle. All I know, is a family with multiple Alphas is scary, so let's hurry and rid the world of Peter, yea?" Stiles said.

Scott agreed completely, Peter was going to pay for all of this. Hopefully once they got down to Primm, they would be able to keep track of Peter's trail. It took them awhile, but when they finally saw the rundown rollercoaster appear in the distance, they both sagged with relief. The day as starting to get rather warm and they'd be glad for a place to rest for the hottest part of the day.

"What do you think the town is like?" Scott asked as they wandered closer.

Stiles looked around and noticed the NCR tents and soldiers standing around on one side of the highway, "Looks like maybe they are in trouble?"

"I hope not…"

None of the soldiers even looked their way as they walked by so the boys kept walking, making their way across the partially destroyed bridge into the town proper. Stiles looked around as they walked, letting out a low whistle as their Pip-Boys uploaded the new information.

"Place looks kinda run-down, not surprised we haven't been here before," he muttered.

Scott gave him a look, "It's got a casino, they can't be that bad off, and look, a motel. Oh wait… I think… Dude, look, Mohave Express headquarters."

"What? This is where we get our orders from? You've got to be kidding me…"

"Come on, let's go inside, Hell, maybe they'll be able to tell us more about that package we were carrying," Scott suggested.

Stiles shrugged and let the way to the storefront, holding the door open for Scott and following him in. Just inside the door was an old mailroom, lots of slots along the back wall for holding mail as well as a counter.

"Welcome to Primm. I'm Johnson Nash, trader mostly, and I'm in charge of the Mohave Express here," the man behind the counter welcomed them.

"Heh, I'm a courier with them, what a small world," Stiles scoffed. That was kinda the reason they'd come into the building after all. Scott nudged him in the side, reminding him to try and be nice.

"Oh well I don't have any work for you right now, sorry to say. Things got ugly around here, had some Ganger trouble this morning," Nash told them.

Seriously? Ganger trouble here too? Wow, those guys were sure raising a stink, why didn't they just lie low? Stiles cleared his throat, "Sorry to hear that, we've dealt with that gang before, real annoying. We're actually here because, well you see, I've recently lost a package I was supposed to deliver…"

"Hmm, I can try to help you, do you have a delivery order you can show me?" Nash asked.

Stiles dug around in his pockets and pulled out his order slip, handing it over to the older man.

"Oh, one of those packages… that job had weird written all over it, but you know how it is… we just couldn't turn down the caps."

"What was strange about it?" Scott wondered, leaning on the counter.

"Some cowboy robot hired 6 couriers to deliver 6 different packages, things like some dice, a poker chip, stuff like that. Very weird. But I got notice of payments delivered, so I'm not sure what happened to your package. And the first guy we hired to carry one of the packages, up and quit on us, I hope he dies a horrible death out in the desert, put us in quite the rough spot. But then you got called in, seems a little unlucky for you though."

"Yea, you can say that… Got shot in the head for my troubles. Wait, did he say why he cancelled?"

"Yea actually, he saw your name was next on the list for the job, he asked if you were alive. I said sure as there isn't no rain. So he said he quit; when I asked him if he wanted the caps for the job he said no. 'Let Courier Six take the job' he said and just walked right out of the office. No idea what was going on in his head though, why he was so keen on letting you have the package."

"Whoa, who was that? Did he say where he went?" Stiles demanded.

"No idea, but it sure seemed like you two might have had some history, but I can't give you any more than that, sorry."

"Okay, and you said some robot hired us all, that one over there?" Stiles asked, pointing to the broken down robot on the counter.

Nash shook his head, "Nope, that one has been out of commission for some time now- different one, had some cowboy face on his screen, talked different for a robot too."

Scott and Stiles shared a look, it almost sounded like Victor back in Goodsprings... But they didn't have time to discuss that right now, apparently Nash didn't have a name for the robot anyways so they couldn't be sure.

"Okay, so some guys stole my package. Goes by the name of Peter, had some hired thugs with him. Did they happen to pass by this way?"

"You know what, I think someone did mention that, a few days ago. Saw some man dressed all fancy, hanging around with some Great Khans, overheard them talking about a chip of some sort."

"Could you possibly tell us where they were headed?" Scott begged, fingers crossed.

"Naw, can't help you there. If you want to know more about that, you'd have to go ask Deputy Beagle. He was pretty interested in following them around and might have overheard where they went."

"Okay, thanks. You've helped out a lot," Stiles said, running his hands through his hair.

"Happy to help, sorry I couldn't give you anymore to go off of. Deputy Beagle is probably hanging out in the casino," the kind man told them.

The boys nodded in thanks and went back out into the heat, quickly making their way down the street and into the casino. This was apparently where everyone decided to hang out, Stiles could see quite a few people sitting down at the various machines, a few waitresses wandering about here and there.

"I smell food, and that makes me want to eat something, do you think they'd get offended if we ate what was in our pack?" Scott asked in a quiet voice.

"Naw, besides who cares anyways? I just want to find Beagle and then get out of here and be on our way," Stiles commented.

It didn't take him long to find the lone officer sitting at the bar, Stiles plopping into the seat next to him. "Deputy Beagle?"

"That's me, how can I help you fellas?"

Stiles gave the man his best smile, hoping that this would be a quick conversation, "Well I'm looking for a man named Peter. I'm a courier and he stole a package from me; I want to get paid so needless to say I'm trying to find him so I can get it back. Nash told us that you might know where he was heading?"

"Yea, I heard," Beagle replied, giving Stiles a slimy smile in return.

There was a moment of silence before Scott spoke up, "Can you tell us where he went?"

"Well I could, but I'm not a fan of just giving away information you see."

Stiles rolled his eyes and started digging in his pocket for some caps, but Deputy Beagle held out a hand, "Now, now, I don't want caps."

"Okay…?"

"I want you to do me a favor, then I'll be able to tell you about your friend Peter."

Stiles and Scott looked at each other- seriously, he wanted a favor? They didn't have time for this!

Scott spoke up, since Stiles was sure to have an attitude at this point, "What is the favor exactly?"

"It's pretty simple really, Primm needs a new Sheriff. Those Gangers that came in this morning killed our old Sheriff," Beagle explained.

Stiles cut in then, already tired of Beagle's lack of intelligence, "Why aren't you Sheriff now then?"

"Because I'm a deputy, and I can't be a deputy without a Sheriff, called a chain of command kiddo," Beagle sneered, looking at Stiles like he knew nothing.

Stiles glared at the guy, "Yea, but apparently you're the only officer left here, so why don't you just step up?"

"I'm not exactly qualified to be a sheriff, just because I'm the only deputy left here," Beagle told them.

Scott rolled his eyes, he could tell that this guy just didn't want to be responsible for so much. Knowing that they needed the information on Peter, Scott decided to ask, "So what are the qualifications of being a Sheriff exactly?"

Deputy Beagle sat up straighter and rubbed his chin, "Well someone brave, like that Derek fellow that helped us out...but obviously someone that is willing to settle down here, and a Human of course. Primm doesn't need a nasty heathen to be Sheriff, so Human is a must. Do you know he took Erica with him?"

"No, I have no idea who Erica is," Stiles replied dryly. Beagle needed to be dropped off the top of the rollercoaster. Stiles was glad that Scott had learned how to control his phases years ago… no way Beagle would have talked to them otherwise, racist asshole.

"She was one of the waitresses here, real pretty, you know despite the wolf tail, and ears. She was blonde, real fiery, huge rack- I was planning on making a move on her, but then she up and left with that beast."

Scott and Stiles both did a double take- that sounded a lot like the female Beta they'd seen on the road. So that meant that Derek, the Alpha, had saved this town from some Powder Gangers, and probably saved Erica from this asshole too. No surprise that she decided to leave with someone like Derek rather than stick around here.

"Ok, anyways, about the Sheriff position? Any idea where we might find someone?" Scott asked, wanting to change the subject.

"I did overhear some of the Gangers talking about a convict named Meyers back in the correction facility, he might be worth looking into... and there is also the NCR, I mean, they are right there... Honestly though I have no idea how good of an idea that is. They were camped out over there when the Gangers took over the town, did absolutely nothing to help us. You find us someone and then I'll be happy to tell you about Peter."

"Ok fine! We'll help out Primm...then will you tell us about that asshole in the nice suit and we're out of here!" Stiles agreed angrily. God, he was ready to be out of this shithole; he slid off the stool and out of the casino, Scott right behind him.

"Okay, despite the fact that Beagle in there said that the NCR obviously has their heads up their asses, let's go ask them to look after the town," Stiles raged, already stomping back over to the bridge. "The sooner they agree to do it, the sooner we can find out about Peter and then go find him."

"Do you really think that's best?" Scott asked. He wanted to go after Peter too, but what good was the NCR going to be if they didn't even step in this morning?

"They'll be good enough," was all Stiles said.

As they strolled through the make-shift camp asking where the person in charge was, one of the soldiers pointed them to the command tent. As soon as they entered, an older man, about mid 30's stood up and greeted them.

"Lieutenant Stilinski, New California Republic Army, 5th battalion, 1st company, how can I help you boys?"

Stiles felt himself relax just a bit, the Lieutenant seemed like a friendly man- unlike some of the other NCR officers they've come across. He took a deep breath and started his plea, "Primm is in dire need of some real law, I'm sure you heard about what happened in the town…"

"Yea, we heard… I was sent here along with some men to try and control the flood of convicts from the mass escape from the correctional facility. We were waiting on word from my commanding officer on how we should proceed and then the next thing I know the townspeople are exiting the casino and are saying the Gangers have been taken care of…."

Scott spoke up then, "So, you were planning on helping out the town?"

"Yea, well if we could. We're a little short on man- and fire-power here. If the Gangers were more organized that we might have anticipated, or had larger numbers than us, we might have been ordered to stand down."

Scott relaxed, at least now he knew why the NCR hadn't done anything this morning. It made sense that they wouldn't just march into the situation blind, intel was important. Sounds like Derek was in the wrong place at the right time and was able to help out.

"What are the Gangers doing out here harassing townspeople anyways?" Stiles asked.

"Not long ago, the convicts in there staged a coup and killed all the guards that didn't manage to escape. They been wrecking havoc on the area since, causing a lot of problems for us," Stilinski explained, looking tired all of a sudden.

"Well, since the Ganger problem has been taken care of, and you're here still, why don't you just kinda take over as the law for Primm?" Stiles pointed out, hoping the problem was going to be easy to take care of.

"We don't have the supplies or manpower needed to defend this area. I know that Primm is a pretty strategic location, one that I'd be happy to obtain, but I haven't been able to get any help from the Mohave Outpost. I was barely able to get out here to help clean up after the Powder Gangers, we just don't have what we need."

"Well, what do you need?" Stiles complained, not understanding why the 6 men already here couldn't just become the new officers for the town.

"More bodies mostly, even just one more squad here and we'd be able to protect the town properly and get a Sheriff assigned here."

"Really, another squad? How come the 6 of you aren't enough? There isn't that much crime in Primm is there?"

Lieutenant Stilinski chuckled, "No, not that I'm aware of, but like I said- Primm is a powerful location. There are lots of troublemakers out there that might try and take over the town. I'd want to be absolutely certain that my men would be able to take them on."

"Yea, I suppose that makes sense. Anything we can do to help out with the situation?" Scott stepped in.

"Talk to Knight at the Mohave Outpost and see what he tells you. Until he says otherwise, my hands are tied."

"Okay, we'll see if there is anything we can do to help, we want Primm to be safe. Best way to do that is get a new Sheriff in there one way or another," Stiles said.

Scott and Stiles left the tent, Stiles's smile dropping off his face as soon as they were outside.

"Dammit! I don't want to have to go all the way to the Mohave Outpost, just to talk some other NCR ass into getting more troops here. You heard what he said… they are shorthanded already, what are the odds that we can get more people out here?"

"Well we have to do something," Scott told him.

"Well, apparently it's either head to the outpost, or head to the correctional facility, where a bunch of convicts are running rampant. Great choices…" Stiles groaned.

The boys pulled up their Pip-Boys, seeing that the Outpost was a good day's hike away; the facility was bound to be closer to them. Stiles wandered over to one of the tables that had been set up, looking over the maps that had been laid out.

"Yup, see here's the facility, it's actually pretty close. We're probably better off going there first, since it's closer. If it's possible to get inside and not die, I'd rather take the shorter route."

Scott glanced at his brother, "How easy do you think it will be to head into a facility that is guarded by a bunch of idiots with dynamite?"

"Well, we aren't the NCR, so what beef would they have with us?" Stiles shrugged.

Scott couldn't really come up with a counter-argument so he just shifted his pack and looked up at the sky, "Can it at least wait until later? I'm still hungry and we really should take a break during this heat."

"Yea, I hear ya there Scotty. Let's head over to Nash and see if he'll take some of our stuff off our hands, then head to the hotel and get a room. We can crash for a few hours at least."

They walked back across the bridge once more, heading back into the Express building, Nash greeting them warmly. "What can I help you boys with, did you find Deputy Beagle?"

"Yea we did, but he's not just going to tell us. We have to do him a favor first. So I was figuring we could kill some time by staying in town. You mentioned you were a trader?"

"Yes I am, what are you looking for?"

"Would it be too much to hope for that you have an extra pack lying around? I feel really bad making my brother carry all the stuff."

Nash went around back to check his stock, telling them he might have something they could use. They heard him move some stuff around and then heard a low cheer; Stiles smiled at Scott, he must have found something.

"How is this?" Nash asked, coming back to the counter with an old backpack in his hand. It was brown and had 2 large pouches and then a small pouch, as well as a small side pocket.

"Oh man, that looks awesome, the zippers all still work?" Stiles asked, flipping the back around in his hands.

"Yes sir they do."

Knowing that this was a good bag, Scott put his pack on the counter and started fishing out some of their spare items to trade for it. Might as well save as many caps as they could by trading items first; Nash was glad to take all their excess ammo that they'd collected, for guns that they didn't have. He also took a few of their pistols that they'd gotten from the Powder Gangers in Goodsprings.

"Okay, thanks a lot, this will help us out so much. Oh, could you tell us how much it is for a room at the hotel?" Stiles asked as he grabbed his new pack.

"Oh… well the hotel is closed, maybe for good. The Gangers that came storming in here earlier… they shot Laurie, she was the one that managed the rooms. We're still trying to figure out what to do about the bodies as well. Sorry."

"Oh, well that kinda sucks. Both for us and for the bad news. Thanks for the heads up," Scott offered. He wondered just how many might have died when those punks came here trying to take over. Scott followed Stiles outside, wondering what they were going to do since they didn't really have a place to sleep, or rearrange their gear now.

"Stiles, where are you going?" Scott asked as he watched Stiles head to the hotel. "There is no one in there to give us a room."

Stiles turned around and smiled at Scott, "That just means it's free. Come on, before someone sees you."

"Stiles!"

Stiles just grabbed Scott's arm and pulled him along, "It's not hurting anyone. You know we would have paid for a room if the building was still open. But it's not, and there is nowhere else for us to stay. It's not like we're cheating someone else out of money by squatting there. And it's only for a few hours bro, come on!"

Scott realized that it was a very strong point… they weren't cheating anyone after all, there was no other place in town to stay. Still, it just felt wrong to Scott, especially knowing that people had died in there.

"Beggars can't be choosers Scott," Stiles said, knowing what Scott was thinking. They'd been together for years, it wasn't hard to figure out what was going on in his head. "It's just a few hours, we'll find a clean room. That will give us time to rearrange our stuff and catch some sleep."

"Okay, okay. I just hope there isn't too many dead people in there, my nose is sensitive you know."

Stiles clapped his brother on his shoulder and opened the front door to the building, both of them ducking inside. Scott sniffed the air but deemed it passable for now, as long as the upper floors didn't have as many bodies. They could tell that the bodies of the Gangers had been looted, but they quickly picked through the rooms, Scott and Stiles finding the still locked safe in the gift shop.

"Oh, a 6-digit code, this will be fun!" Stiles cackled with glee. He crouched on the floor and started attempting to guess the combination while Scott looked around for anything else of value.

"Holy shit! Scott come here and look at this!"

Scott turned around and saw Stiles holding something reverently, mouth hanging open. As he walked closer he could see that Stiles was holding some sort of pistol, the safe open on the floor.

"Do you have any idea what this is?"

"A pretty cool pistol, but I have a feeling you know what this is, and it's important?"

Stiles looked at his brother, eyes lit up, "It's Lucky."

"You found a good luck charm?" Scott asked, completely perplexed as to how Stiles would know that.

Stiles threw his hands up in the air, "You are the worst scavenger in the entire Wastes Scott! Not a good luck charm, this is Lucky, with a capital L, see?"

Stiles held the gun out for Scott to see, and scrawled along the bottom of the handle was the name Lucky in elegant letters. Scott could see that the handle was made out of ivory and had a club symbol on it. The barrel had an intricate design on it as well.

"This thing will go for like 1500 caps to the right buyer! Or I mean, we can hold onto it, it's a great shot, I can tell already. Hell, it probably is a lucky charm too."

"Very good find Stiles, I'm glad you know your guns. I would have thought it was neat and then just stuffed it in the pack."

Stiles smiled at Scott, "That's why we travel together, someone has to look out for you Fluffy-Butt."

"Ha, ha, I think I do a lot more of the looking after Stiles."

The boys laughed and decided to just head up to the second floor, figuring this one find was the best thing they'd get from the hotel. They were sure Derek had grabbed the rest of the stuff, he probably just didn't know how to unlock the safe. As soon as Scott found a suitable room, the boys started unpacking their things and rearranging it, so the weight was distributed more evenly, although Scott was determined to carry more since he didn't fatigue as fast. Once they were both satisfied and had eaten a small meal, they laid out on the mattress and fell asleep.

*Goodsprings*

"There it is!" Isaac called out, tail whipping the air.

"Sounds like you're pretty excited to see Melissa again," Derek commented, patting his first Beta on the back.

"Yea, it's been awhile since I've seen her, I want her to know that I'm doing okay."

Erica smiled, "I can't wait to meet her… It's rare to meet someone that is nice to Weres. Since she showed you such kindness, I want to thank her."

Isaac felt his cheeks flush, and his ears fluttered, Erica was acting like his big sister or something. She was totally going to embarrass him in front of Melissa; thank God she didn't know any embarrassing stories about him or anything. Isaac lead the small group towards the saloon, eager to get out of the sun. He tucked his sunglasses onto this head as he entered the dark space, eyes adjusting easily. From the far side of the room, they heard someone calling out to them.

"Welcome to Goodsprings, come on in and have a- Isaac? Is that you?"

"Hi Melissa, it's me, still alive and well," he assured the older woman as she raced across the room and pulled him into a hug.

"I didn't realize it was you, I saw these others with you and just assumed you were some travelers. Come on in, all of you I want to hear about how you've been," Melissa said, ushering them all to the bar.

After they all had some drinks in front of them, Isaac began the introductions, "This is Derek, he found me a few nights ago. He saved me, I honestly think I might have died if we hadn't crossed paths. He's uh, my new Alpha now."

"Nice to meet you Derek, and thank you, for taking care of him; I might not have known him for long, but I can tell he's a sweet boy."

Derek nodded his head, "When I first laid eyes on him, he was a mess, I couldn't just leave him alone. I actually surprised myself…"

Melissa looked between him and Isaac when he paused, not understanding what was making him hesitate.

"You're a great Alpha Derek, you've already taught me a bunch of new stuff and saved my life. I don't regret becoming your Beta," Isaac assuring him before turning to Melissa. "Derek told me that he wasn't really planning on finding a Pack, at least not for awhile. I'm not sure why, I mean we're still getting to know one another, but despite his hesitance, he took me in. Erica too, just a few days after me, actually, just this morning."

"Nice to meet you, I only just joined these guys and already I'd heard some great things about you so I was happy to find out we were heading here," Erica told the nice lady behind the bar.

"And last but not least, that's Boyd, we found him just up the road… some Humans were beating him up and Derek scared them off. We brought him here with us to give him a place to recover, him and Callie," Isaac said, pointing to Boyd.

"Speaking of Callie, she's my Brahmin, is there somewhere I can pen her up? The whole ordeal has been a bit much for her and I think she'd feel better being around some other animals," Boyd asked quietly.

"I'm sure Brad would let her graze in his pen, he's the one with the Bighorners," Melissa offered.

"I'll go talk with him, thanks. I'll be back in a little while," he told them, sliding off the stool to go tend to Callie.

Erica watched as he walked away, turning to Derek after he'd disappeared out the front door, "I like him, do you think he'll travel with us?"

Derek shrugged, "I have no idea… he mentioned being in a traveling merchant group full of Weres, so maybe he already has an Alpha. But if he wants to stick with us for awhile, I'll allow it. It's a lot safer for us to travel in packs and he doesn't need any more trouble."

"See, he's a great Alpha, I have no idea why he was so hesitant on starting a Pack," Erica gushed to Melissa.

Melissa laughed as she watched Derek duck his head at the praise, clearly he had a troubled past but thankfully he hadn't let it stop him from welcoming these two Betas into his heart. "So tell me Erica, why did you decide to join Derek and Isaac? I know what happened with Isaac and why he was wandering alone. So now I want to hear about you as well."

Erica pouted, "Isaac, you'll have to tell me some time, we're Packmates now. But yea, I can tell you my story. Um, I'm from Nipton, my life was pretty normal until I got bit about 3 months ago. The Alpha that bit me got hunted down, so I was on my own; the people in Nipton weren't mean to me or anything after I'd been turned but… they also weren't friendly you know? So I packed up my stuff and left after about a week. I made it to Primm and luckily they were pretty Were-friendly there so I got hired as a waitress. My pay sucked, but it was caps so I wasn't complaining, what really sucked was that me and the few other Weres got locked up every full moon. Since I didn't have my Alpha to teach me, and the other Wolves at the casino were Omegas, none of us really had any practice. We all just kinda fueled each other's bloodlust the whole night, so I guess I'm not really surprised we got locked away. But they didn't even try to help us out, just assumed we had no control and would never learn control either. When Derek and Isaac came in, I realized that this could be my chance. I'd never actually met another Alpha before so I didn't want to pass up the chance. I asked if I could join up with them and Derek said yea."

"Didn't give me much of a choice," Derek grumbled, but his tone wasn't harsh. "Isaac promised her that we wouldn't leave without her."

Isaac smiled and wagged his tail, glad that Derek hadn't berated him for that. He was still trying to get used to what was okay and what might set Derek off, but he had been so excited to learn more from Erica that he just needed her to come along. Derek finished up his glass of whiskey and stood up to excuse himself.

"Isaac, Erica, you two can stay here, I'm going to go look for a safe place for us tonight. It's the full moon, I'm sure no one in town wants two inexperienced Weres sitting on their couch tonight."

The Betas nodded, happy that he was thinking ahead. Already the two of them could feel this itchy feeling all throughout their body, making them want to just run and hunt. Since it was still day time, they could control it, content to sit here and talk with Melissa, but once the sun went down, the urge would become a lot stronger. Hopefully Derek would be able to keep both of them in line by himself. Isaac really didn't want to hurt anyone in Goodsprings because this was his first full moon.

"First time Isaac?" Erica asked, seeing his faraway expression.

When he nodded, she leaned over and patted his back, "It's intense, this will be my third one. But my first with any Packmates, so I'm hoping that will make it different. I think if Derek will be in control, it will help us stay in control you know? Since he's our Alpha and all; I know a bunch of Omegas locked in cages together definitely didn't help our control at all."

"I'm sure Derek will keep you both safe, if he thought that it wasn't safe for you to be near town, he would have waited to visit until after the full moon," Melissa assured them. Derek might seem a bit self conscious of his abilities, but that meant he'd always err on the side of caution. So he must have faith in them to make it through tonight.

"Callie is safely tucked away with the Bighorners now, thanks," Boyd called out as he came back into the bar. "Where did Derek go?"

"He went to go look for a place for us tonight. Full moon you know, and we're a bit new at this," Erica told him.

"A bit? This is a first for me," Isaac scoffed, still clearly unsure about this whole thing.

"Do you think he'll let me stay with you? I know how to control my bloodlust, it's something all the Weres in my group have to be able to do before going out on your own. I might be able to help," Boyd offered.

Erica lit up, "That would be great! I'm sure the more help there is the better. Not that Derek isn't a good Alpha or anything, just you know, it's better to be cautious."

The group continued to sit at the bar and talk, Boyd telling them a bit about his time with the Were merchant group. A few other townspeople came and went, all of them politely giving the Wolves some space. There were a few that came up and said hello to Isaac to be nice, but at least none of them complained about their presence. Isaac's itchiness suddenly got the better of him and he excused himself, explaining that he was going to go for a short walk. He promised to be back in just a little while, he still had a few hours before the sun went down completely. Plenty of time before Derek would want him to be safely tucked away. As he walked outside, he was amazed at how much time had passed, the sun was a little lower than he thought, Derek had hopefully found something for them already.

He hadn't wandered far from the bar when a woman and her young son came up to him, the little boy clutching a piece of paper.

"Ex-excuse me sir…?" the woman started, pausing with uncertainty.

"Can I help you?" Isaac asked, keeping his voice soft so he didn't scare them.

"You're a-a-a Werewolf right?" The boy asked, looking at his tail and ears.

"Yes I am, but I won't hurt you," he promised, smiling at the boy.

The boy smiled back, "Being a Werewolf means you're strong right?" When Isaac nodded, he continued. "My Daddy works in Sloan, and I wanted to send him something. But I missed the Courier… And Daddy says it's not safe to go visit him anymore, so Mommy won't let me go see him. Can- can you take this to him?"

Isaac blinked in surprise as the boy held out the slip of paper, his mother was standing behind him with a hopeful look in her eyes. Isaac had been to Sloan before, so he knew it was really close, especially if he ignored the road and took a more direct path. Again he looked at the sun, knowing that if he ran, he'd be able to make it there and back with enough time to find Derek and get to a safe place.

"Sure, I can take it to him, I know the people working there won't shoot me, and I can make it across the Wastes safer than if you and your mom were to go."

"Oh thank you," the lady said. "Tyler here has been wanting to see his Dad for awhile now, we used to make trips up there, but lately it's just become too dangerous. I have a few caps for you, I'd hate to impose on you and make you head that way and not give you anything for it."

Isaac took the paper from the little boy and hesitantly accepted the handful of caps from the woman, promising to find her husband and deliver the message. He tucked the note securely into his jacket pocket and started jogging towards Sloan.


	10. NCRCF

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Scott make their way to NCRCF to talk to Meyers, what could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More action in this chapter, even it is a bit shorter than the last one. The coming chapter has some bigger revelations in it and I wanted to keep that to it's own chapter instead of adding it all together so... But it should be out soon =) and it will probably be a fair length as well =D

*Primm/NCRCF*

Stiles and Scott woke up a few hours later, wanting to head out before dusk completely came around. They packed up their things and snuck out of the hotel, not wanting anyone to see them and make a fuss about them staying in there. Stiles had marked the location on his Pip-Boy, so they headed out into the desert, knowing that a direct route was much faster than following the road, that would mean they'd have to pass the facility and backtrack around to the entrance. They were about halfway there when Scott held a hand out to halt Stiles, nose flared as he scented the air.

They both crouched down as Scott told him what was up, "There are some people up ahead, only two. We're not to the NCR correctional facility yet right?"

"No, and even if we were, I'm sure there would be more than two heartbeats right?"

Scott nodded and Stiles unslung his rifle, the two of them crept closer to the source of the scent. It wasn't long before Scott paused again, his wolf ears coming out so he could listen to what was going on; his eyes narrowed as he listened.

"Couple of Powder Gangers, talking about how they need more supplies before they move out; sounds like they weren't too keen on just sitting around at the facility. What do you want to do?"

"I say we take them out, we have plenty of evidence that they aren't good people, and if there is only two, they don't stand a chance. Plus they might have some good stuff, and we are scavengers technically. Anything goes out here Scott."

Scott nodded in agreement, he usually didn't like killing others, and had never taken an innocent life, but the Gangers were proving to be more of a problem lately. In the same day, two different groups of them attacked innocent towns. And these two were planning on doing the same thing in the future.

Seeing that Scott didn't have a problem with getting these guys out of the way, Stiles crept up onto a nearby boulder and scouted out their camp, seeing that they were both just wandering around, kicking at the ground as they waited for something.

"Want me to just pick them off? I know I can get at least one for sure, but I have no idea what the second one will do once he hears the shot," Stiles commented. He'd already picked out which one to shoot first, the guy in the white tank top was wandering around with a stick of dynamite in his hand… He wasn't going to let that guy have a chance to throw that anywhere near Scott. The other guy didn't have a visible weapon on him, so that made his less dangerous to Scott.

"Let me creep a little closer, so if he decides to take cover by the railcar, I can take him out. If he stays out in the open, take him out and I can start looting."

"Roger," Stiles said. He kept one eye on the two Gangers, waiting until he saw Scott disappear around the far side of the car. Once Scott was in place, Stiles lined up his shot, shooting Dynamite straight through his chest. Like he had anticipated, Leather Jacket dropped to the ground, unsure where the shot came from. From here, he didn't have a clear shot, the brush was blocking him; he knew he could fire off a random shot and hit him, but there was no guarantee that it would be fatal and that would just make it a waste. Stiles rolled off of the boulder, so the Powder Ganger wouldn't see him.

"Up to you Scott, can't get a good shot off," Stiles said aloud, knowing Scott was listening for him.

Stiles was working on crawling closer, just on the off chance Scott might need some backup while Scott worked on scaling the railcar. He peeked over the edge, seeing the guy sprawled out on the sand, a pistol in his hand. Scott smiled to himself, this was going to be easy, the guy was too busy trying to peek through the brush to see Scott. Scott unleashed his claws and jumped off the car, landing directly on the man's back, claws sinking into his neck before he knew what had happened. The least Scott could do was give the guy a quick death, even if the Powder Gangers wasn't innocent he wasn't going to be like Peter. Scott whistled to let Stiles knows the coast was clear.

"Let's hope they have something good, I'd like to get some caps, just in case we decide to not sell that pistol we found," Stiles called from a few yards away as he stood up.

Scott had already started rummaging through the few metal boxes laying on the ground, "Oh, we found something. You're going to like this."

Stiles jogged up as Scott held up a scope, big smile on his face. "No way, a scope? That's awesome, it will make using this rifle so much better. I still miss my old rifle, but this is the next best thing!"

"Yea, I figured you would enjoy that, other than that there is some ammo for our pistol, and some Rebound. I'm sure we can find someone that might want that," Scott said, carefully picking up the drug pack.

Stiles agreed, Rebound was some strong stuff. Neither of them liked to use it, although they had in the past. It was a good drug to use when you needed to focus, and it was better than a regular shot of Jet since it lasted longer. Still, Jet was addicting and neither of them wanted to head down that path, so they rarely touched the stuff. It was usually good for a fair amount of caps though, so they collected it when they came across it. Stiles sat on the ground and pulled out his weapon kit, quickly fastening his new scope to his Varmint Rifle, making sure everything worked and was sighted correctly.

"Alright, with a scope, getting into the correctional facility will be even easier now. With this we can pick off anyone assigned as guards," Stiles said, standing up again.

The boys walked a little further and scaled the side of a semi-steep hill, finally coming up to the facility. They laid prone at the top of the hill, not wanting to be spotted, and tried to gather how many inmates there might be. There were 6 guard towers, and at least 4 of them had someone standing at the top, Scott couldn't see anyone along the two at the back of the facility. There were also quite a few guys just milling about in the yard, probably just trying to kill time before night fell.

"I can take out the guy in the nearest tower, and some of the guys in the yard… this isn't a sniper rifle, so it's not quite as loud, but odds are still high that they are going to hear it. You ready?"

"Yea, you focus on taking out the towers and the guys in the yard, I'm going to change places and make sure no one is doing an area patrol. Would hate for someone to try and sneak up on us."

Stiles nodded and waited a bit for Scott to get a little further away to give him time to scout. He looked through his scope and decided to take out the guy in the nearest guard tower first, he was the most likely to spot him so might as well eliminate that threat. With even breaths, Stiles slowed down his heartbeat and pressed down on the trigger, ducking behind the boulder as soon as the shot rang out. Even with his limited Human hearing, he could hear a few concerned shouts coming from the guys in the yard. He counted to five and set up his second shot, going for the next watch tower, thankful that these shots didn't echo across the small valley. The second guy had to be shot in the head, blood splattering everywhere, they'd gotten their hands on the bullet-proof vests, this was going to be a bigger hassle than he'd originally thought. With the two nearest towers taken out, Stiles began picking off the guys in the yard, managing to kill all three before they ran inside to warn anyone. As he ducked back behind his small boulder, he heard some growling and then a few shots ring out.

Scott had come across a patrol, not too far from Stiles's position, they were bound to hear the shots and come investigate. He ran up to them, catching them off guard and tackled the larger of the two, claws tearing out his throat before they even hit the ground. The second let out a cry of surprise and held up his gun and Scott let out a loud growl, amber eyes glowing. Scott knew that at this range, it would be hard to dodge a bullet, so he jumped up in the air, making the Ganger flinch and fire prematurely. Scott snarled as the bullet entered his thigh, but he landed on the second man and dispatched him as easily as the first. He was using his claws to dig out the small caliber bullet when Stiles appeared in front of him.

"You good?" Stiles asked, needing to hear Scott's voice to relax. He always got worked up when Scott got hurt, despite the fact that he would heal. There was always the possibility that someone was carrying around Wolfsbane bullets and Scott would need more serious attention.

"Fine, just one shot, to my thigh," Scott told him, holding up the bloody bullet. "And now we also have some disguises. This should at least get us in so we can find Meyers right?"

Stiles smiled and rubbed Scott's head, "Atta boy, good thinking. Here I was, ready to just barge in there and hope for the best."

It only took them moment to strip down the two dead men and change their clothes, making sure to pack their original garments into Stiles's pack. Once they were ready, they climbed down the hill and walked towards the entrance of the gates, doing their best to look like they belonged.

"Hold up, what's going on here?" a guy said, standing guard at the door.

"We came across those guys patrolling, took some shots at us before they realized we were part of the Gang. Luckily no one got hit. We were hoping to come back in real quick, got some business inside," Stiles said.

The guy looked them over, probably trying to recognize them, but he pulled a keycard and unlocked the door for them.

Stiles and Scott nodded in thanks and headed into the building, so far so good! They scouted their surroundings, noticing about 5 guys just milling about inside, none of them looking up at the newcomers. There were some small round tables spread out in the room, for the visitors to sit at while they were here talking to loved ones. Stiles also noticed the Sasparilla dispenser along the wall, walking over to it and grabbing a soda for them both as they scouted out the men.

"Hey, is it just me, or does that guy look like he doesn't belong?" Scott whispered, tilting his chin in the direction of a man with a tattered cowboy hat. He didn't seem to have the same aura as the rest of the guys.

Stiles led the way over, casually sitting down at the small table, "Hey, would you by chance happen to be Meyers? Or know where we can find him?"

"Yea, that's me, what can I do for you?" Meyers replied, looking up at the boys.

"We wanted to ask you a few questions, is that alright?"

"Didn't think anyone would just willingly walk into this place, not unless they were looking for trouble; all to ask me a few questions? Might as well ask then, since you came all the way here."

Stiles and Scott looked at each other, did he know they weren't a part of the Gang? Scott cleared his throat, "What did you do before you ended up incarcerated?"

"I was a Sheriff, but justice is slow, so I sped up the process sometimes, some people in the town didn't like that. I thought it was a fair trade," Meyers told them, leaning back in his chair.

"Okay, wait, the PGs have taken over here… why are you still here, why haven't you left?" Stiles asked, might as well give up the act of belonging if he saw through their outfits.

"I'm sure the NCR wouldn't just welcome me with open arms, being an escaped convict and all, so I figured it's just best to stay right here."

Stiles and Scott looked at each other, wondering if maybe he's not too crooked for Primm after all, so Scott decided to ask, "How would you feel about becoming Primm's new sheriff?"

Meyers gave them a look, "Assuming an NCR pardon comes with the job, that would be great. Even better would be a guarantee that I can do things my own way. Due process has its place, but I need to be promised that I won't end up back in prison for doing my job."

"You mean taking the law into your own hands?" Scott wanted to clarify.

"When I need to, yes."

Scott and Stiles look at each other, they'd have to talk this over with the NCR… no way were they making a deal without having a pardon ready, they told him they'd have to think about it.

Meyers nodded his head, "Understandable, I'll be here when if you decide to come back with good news."

Stiles and Scott nodded their heads and stood up, looking around once more; an idea popped into Stiles's head, "Why don't we look around a bit. I mean it's not like anyone here knows we don't belong, well besides Meyers. We can at least grab some of the stuff from the guys in the towers."

"Always thinking of ways to push the envelope Stiles… But I agree, I'm sure these guys have some good supplies, considering it all used to be NCR stuff. Let's go," Scott said, rolling his eyes at his brother.

Together they made their way to the back of the visitor center, heading out into the fenced in yard, thankful that no one else had come out here and noticed the few dead bodies. They hurried over to the right, heading up the nearest tower and grabbing the spare clips from the dead guy's waistband.

"Think we should look in the different buildings as well, I'm sure they'll have ammo… it's always good to stock up, we go, well I go through a lot of ammo out in the Wastes," Stiles asked, looking down at the two other buildings in the yard.

"Yea, we did go through some the other day in Goodsprings… we picked up a lot from the dead Gangers, but not a lot of it was the right caliber. Might as well take advantage."

They made quick work of heading up to the other vacant tower but didn't find anything worthwhile, much to Stiles's dismay. Once they were back on the ground, Stiles made his way into the first building, the door labeled Cell Block A. Inside was dark, there weren't any windows and the small area was cordoned off into three different rooms, each with 2 bunkbeds. A few of the bunks were occupied and there was one guy sitting at a table in the center, just reading a magazine. Scott nudged Stiles and shook his head, with this many people in here, asleep or not, they weren't likely to get away with stealing anything.

"Let's check the other side of this building, I saw a second door when we were in the guard tower and no second door from the inside," Stiles commented as they left the room.

"Yup, Cell Block B," Scott read as they came up to the second door.

Stiles rubbed his hands together, hoping they'd have more luck in here. It was immediately clear that this room had few people in it, and more supplies; Stiles saw that one of the room had the cell door closed, a lot of metal boxes inside of it. Jackpot; now they just had to get inside. As they wander further into the room, wondering just how they'd get in there, one of the men stood up, glaring harshly at the boys.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Carter, look at these two idiots," he said, standing up from the table.

The guy named Carter turned his head to look at them from the corner of his eye, "Shot 'em, they aren't any of ours."

Shit… clearly Carter had a better grasp of PG's members than the guy at the gate. Stiles dove to the side and pulled his pistol from his hip holster, easily shooting the first guy in the neck as he slid across the floor. A third guy ran out of a side room as Scott tackled Carter, table flipping as they rolled across it. Luckily for Stiles, the new member decided to focus on Scott and was wide open, Stiles's first few shots going into his hip and bringing him down. Stiles was up and across the room, pistol whipping the guy on the ground, effectively knocking him out so he could go check on Scott.

But Scott hadn't needed any help, he was standing there, a slice across his cheek already healing and a key in his bloodied hand. Before they could go see what was in the locked cell, the door flew open and 4 more men ran into the building, having heard the gunshots from right next door. Scott cried out in pain as he was caught by surprise, shotgun blast hitting him right in the chest and knocking him to the floor; Stiles whirled around and started firing, one guy going down. Thankfully Scott had given Stiles the vest, it effectively protected Stiles from the first few shots that came his way. He knew he was going to bruise from those hits, but the shotgun wielder was far enough away they the pellets had lost a lot of their power. Stiles dove behind the upturned table, praying that Scott was alive… Wolves could come back from a lot of wounds, but Stiles always wondered if this was the time Scott's luck would run out. After a quick break in the gunfire, knowing the others needed to reload, Stiles popped up and took out another of the shooters, 2 down, 2 to go. As the second barrage started, Scott suddenly rolled to the side and flung a knife at the doorway before he threw himself into one of the open cells. Stiles cheered when he heard one of the men cry out in pain, Scott's knife had hit.

"Found a gun in here Stiles, good to go," Scott called out.

"Let's do this," Stiles called out, knowing at least one of the shooters was distracted because he was screaming out in pain still.

In unison, Scott and Stiles leaned out of their hiding places and emptied their clips in the direction of the last two people. It was unlucky for them that they didn't have an open cell door to dodge into, and they hadn't been smart enough to just go back outside- both of them got hit and fell to the floor. Now that the coast was clear, Stiles looked over at Scott, noticing the bloody hole in his shirt. Stiles felt his chest tighten, Scott was okay… he'd been playing dead while he waited for the wounds to heal, but it had been too close for comfort in Stiles's mind.

"Dammit Scotty, that was too close. That wasn't supposed to happen," he whispered, going over to Scott and pulling him into a hug.

"It was just a shotgun blast, from like 10 feet away, no way that was going to kill me. I'm glad you're safe… this was why you got the vest. You're a lot squishier than me Stiles," Scott replied, hugging Stiles back.

It took a moment for Stiles's heart to calm down, now that he knew Scott was okay, they could move on, continue to loot this room and leave. They gathered the shotgun and some slugs from the dead mean, Scott stooping to pull his knife out of someone's eye, before moving on to the locked big cache. Scott took out the key he'd got from Carter's body and opened up the supply cell, the boys spreading out to search faster. Stiles had to pick a few locks, but nothing too difficult for him and it wasn't long before they'd looked through everything; they took stock of what they'd found.

"Oh hey, score so far, got some frag grenades, like 3 pairs of sunglasses, about 200 caps, and a super stimpack," Stiles said.

"Good enough haul for getting taken by surprise, ready to get out of here? Might as well go back and talk with Lieutenant Stilinski about Meyers right?" Scott proposed, tucking the new supplies into their bags.

"Agreed, let's go."

Scott poked his head out the door, wanting to make sure there weren't any other guys waiting for them, but the coast was clear. He gave Stiles the all clear and they walked to the visitor center, not wanting to give the other tower guards reason to suspect them. They smiled at each other as they opened the door, this hadn't gone as bad as it could have.

"Hold it right there!" a voice rang out, the sound of a pistol hammer being pulled back.

Stiles and Scott both dove back out the door as the firing began, ducking around to the side of the building. Knowing now that their cover had been completely blown, the boys tried to calm down and think of a plan. Someone else from Cell Block A must have warned the others and they'd been lying in wait to see who came out victorious.

"This is bad Scott, how are we getting out of this one?" Stiles asked as he reloaded his pistol and rifle.

"With a lot of planning and luck, that's how. We survived our run in with Peter, we're not going down here!" Scott growled as he followed Stiles's example.

They were ready by the time a few of the guys came around the corner to look for them; Stiles advised Scott to aim high, since some of them were wearing vests. When they realized that no more of the Gangers were going to pursue them, they ran for cover in the next building, thinking that everyone had been holed up in the visitor center. They entered the administrative building and knew they were in trouble. Immediately two men were staring at them, eyes wide; there was a slow moment as they registered each other's presence. Stiles watched as understanding dawned on them and they reached for their guns. He reached into his pocket as Scott dove forward, snarl tearing from his throat and he attacked the men.

Scott's bloodlust ran higher when he heard Stiles cry out in pain, a wild shot must have winged him- he refused to think anything else might have happened. As the two men below him turned into gory messes, Scott stood up and charged at the next wave of men that came rushing at him, this time with the newly acquired shotgun in his hands. He blasted a few of them away before he heard a two-toned whistle coming from Stiles- grenade! He flung himself into an open doorway and covered his ears, knowing that Stiles had waited a few seconds to throw it.

As soon as Scott was clear, he lobbed the grenade and ducked under the nearby desk as the explosion ripped through the small room. As soon as the blast died down, Stiles was on his feet and charging into the debris, gun ready to clear out any survivors.

"You asshole, what do you think you're doing?" a voice rang out, just as Stiles heard a high pitched whine.

He'd barely had any time to react, throwing himself to the side as soon as he heard the voice.

"Jesus!" he cried out as the laser blast went flying past him, burning a path across the outside of his arm.

He heard some other shots, most likely from Scott and the last man was down, an eerie silence filling the building now.

"Tell me you're okay," Scott called out. He was standing at the stairway leading to the second floor, wanting to make sure no one else snuck up on them.

"Yea, got grazed when we first came in, no biggie there, just across my shin; it was that last asshole that got me in the arm with his laser pistol. Good thing it's automatically cauterized right?" Stiles answered, looking down at his arm and wincing. "It didn't get me that deep, mostly just a bad burn. Clear over there?"

"Yea, no more heartbeats in the building," Scott replied, finally coming over to Stiles and helping him to his feet. "Come on, this room here is the medical bay, noticed the gurneys when I dodged in here, bound to be something to help you out."

Stiles let himself be led into the room, sitting down on the small stretcher as Scott opened up one of the medical kits. He hissed as Scott put some burn cream on his wound and then bandaged it to make sure it wasn't going to get infected. He also grabbed 4 stimpacks and 2 doctor bags to take with them, never know when you'd need some. After that they silently searched through the pile of limbs and torsos, looking for anything else them might as well take.

"Got another key here, let's go see what it unlocks," Stiles said wearily. This hadn't turned out at all like he'd planned.

Scott finished packing away the laser pistol and a submachine gun and followed Stiles up the stairs. It was pretty barren up there, most of the ceiling had collapsed, leaving just two rooms clear of rubble. It wasn't hard to figure out which one the key opened… there was only one closed door. Inside was the gun depot though, Stiles and Scott both grabbing as much ammunition as they could as well as a few more grenades. They also searched the desk and found some Psycho, yet another drug they tried to stay away from.

"Come on, let's clear our way out of here, however many they still have inside the visitor center and get Meyers out of here. We'll just take him with us to the NCR to talk about the Sheriff situation."

"Yea, then after that, I'm going to bed," Scott complained. As much as he wanted to kill Peter, the trail could wait until tomorrow.

They did a quick weapons check and Stiles took a grenade out, Scott cracked the door to the visitor center and rolled it in, knowing that would take care of anyone waiting right in the hallway. As soon as the blast went off, the boys were inside, guns up and bodies low. They stayed half hidden by the wall as they picked off the last remaining gang members, Stiles standing up suddenly and cursing.

"Son of a bitch! Meyers is dead!"

"What, I didn't shoot him, I know I didn't!"

Stiles kicked the nearest dead body, "No, he was dead when we came in, I never saw his hat when we started shooting. I was hoping he'd just been taking cover, but he's got a bullet hole, right between his eyes."

Scott slid down the wall, exhausted now as the adrenaline left him, he couldn't do anything but watch as Stiles trashed the already messy room in his fit of anger.

"Now we have no choice but to go to the dumb outpost and talk to Knight about getting Stilinski another squad! God, this trip was literally for nothing Scott? Dammit!"

"Well, we learned to not always take the easy route, sometimes it's a trap," Scott said, eyes closed.

"That's not a lie," Stiles answered. He slid down the wall next to Scott, holding out another soda for him. "Here, drink this, you'll need it after healing from the shot to the chest."

Scott took the bottle with a small smile, even in his fit of rage, Stiles thought of him and wanted to make sure he was healthy. They both sat there awhile, just letting the anger fade while Scott drank his Nuka-Cola.

"Come on, let's head back," Scott recommended. He didn't want to be here much longer, at least if they made it back to Primm, they could sleep on a mattress again.

Stiles sighed wearily but got to his feet and followed his brother out the front door. Neither of them remembered the one guy that was standing guard, running into him as they opened the door.

"Hey!" he called out, not liking their lack of attentiveness.

Stiles blinked and then reached up with his knife and jammed it into his throat, he really just wanted to go to bed… How had the guard not heard all the commotion going on inside? Did he seriously have no idea? Before Stiles could wonder about it too long, another guard, one still standing in the tower, saw what happened and called out to them. Stiles and Scott booked it, tearing off to the right, zigzagging as they ran through the brush. They continued to run, even after they knew they were well out of range, just to discourage anyone from following them. It wasn't until they came up to the highway that they stopped, taking deep breaths.

"Dammit, we went the wrong way… Instead of running towards Primm, we heading back towards Goodsprings… Talk about rotten luck," Scott complained.

"Yea, and actually we're closer to Sloan than we are Goodsprings. I know Melissa told us it was dangerous, but let's just head to Sloan and see if we can't score a bed for the night. Surely they'll take pity on two road-weary souls."

Scott groaned but knew Stiles had a point, they were better off just heading to the nearest would-be town and begging for a place to stay at this point. Hopefully the people in Sloan were as nice as the people of Goodsprings. Maybe they could even bargain their way into cleaning up whatever crittters were causing problems in exchange for a bed to stay in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for waiting so patiently for this update, I'm still really loving this idea and where I've got plans for this story to go!!! Thanks for sticking with me and supporting these characters.


	11. Sloan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Scott make it to Sloan, and Isaac is caught out by himself when the full moon bloodlust hits him... Things get even worse when the Deathclaws make an appearance as well!!!

*Sloan*

It didn't take long before Isaac was approaching the small makeshift town, but before he could even ask anyone for help, a foreman standing in the street called out to him.

"Hold up, Deathclaws are up North of here, I'd turn back if I were you. If you want to head to New Vegas, you're better off going east from Primm and then looping North. It's longer but it's a hell of a lot safer."

"Deathclaws? Where did those come from?" Isaac asked, he'd heard a lot of bad stories about those things… It wasn't like he was heading to the quarry but he had to admit he wanted to hear a little more.

"They moved into the quarry after the Powder Gangers came through and took all of our dynamite. We shut the quarry down while we waited for the NCR to get us some more blasting sticks but now the Deathclaws have shown up. The NCR's a no-show and my men and I have nothing to do but sit on our asses all day. It's damn frustrating!" Chomps told him.

"Have you dealt with Deathclaws before?"

"Well we'd seen them before but they didn't really get too close, not sure if it was because of all the noise or the workers. And now a whole pack has moved it- I thought bad luck like that only happened in New Vegas…"

"I'll remember to stay away but well, I'm actually just stopping by to give someone a letter, umm…" Isaac trailed off. He didn't actually have the name of the guy he was supposed to give this to, great.

"Is it from a little boy in Goodsprings? Name of Tyler?" the foreman asked.

Isaac nodded, "Yea, that's him. It's for his dad."

"Yea, that would be Chuck, you can probably find him in the barracks right about now."

The Beta said his thanks and headed off to the leftmost building. As he entered, there was one man sitting up on one of the bunks and about 4 others already passed out. "Excuse me, are you Chuck?"

"Naw, that's Chuck," the worker answered, pointing to the man on one of the top bunks.

He bit his lip, that meant he'd have to wake him up, and he'd probably be cranky but he didn't want to just leave this letter here for him, in case he rolled over on it and lost it. Well, might as well just get it over with; he took a few steps and shook the man's shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Sorry to wake you but um, I have a letter from your son, Tyler. He asked that I bring it to you."

Chuck sat up and took the letter, smiling at Isaac, "Thanks, I told him and his Momma that it wasn't safe to come visit me anymore."

It was a bit later when Isaac started walking back to Goodsprings, the conversation with Chuck had taken longer than he thought… he was starting to feel his wolf fight for control. Derek was probably going to be mad at him for cutting it close like this but… that little boy just seemed so earnest! He grunted and dropped down to his knees as a sudden wave of power coursed through him; everything around him got brighter as his brain got foggier. Shambling footsteps caught his attention and Isaac still had enough sense to scurry behind a boulder as he desperately tried to find an anchor.

Stiles saw the work lights ahead, a sigh of relief escaping his lips, "Dude, almost there. I hope they have at least one free bunk."

"Me too, they can't be that cold-hearted right?" Scott asked.

Moments later they stumbled across the road and up to the lone guy standing in the road. He waved them over and gave them the standard warning after introducing himself. They boys told him they had already been warned to take the longer road to New Vegas, they were just walking by.

"What kind of place this is exactly Chomps?" Stiles asked, not wanting to be rude.

"This is Sloan, a camp for us quarry workers. The actual quarry, Quarry Junction, is up the road north of here. The whole thing is an NCR operation. We make cement for the NCR using the limestone we dig out with dynamite and draglines. Dirty work but the pay's good. Wish we got paid in caps though. Not a lot of merchants like taking NCR paper money."

"Wow, sounds like quite the operation. Um… hate to inconvenience you but could we trouble you a place to stay, we'd take care of your little Deathclaw problem," Stiles offered.

Chomps raised a brow, "Have you ever seen a Deathclaw Son? They are taller than a man and far, far stronger and faster. And there's a whole pack of them out there You'd have to be the meanest, strongest, toughest, roughest bastards in The Wastes to have any chance against them, and I don't think that's you. You'd need to take out the pack leaders- the Mother Deathclaw and the Deathclaw Alpha Male. Kill 'em and the pack will scatter. Pretty tough job. But we should have a spare bunk in the barracks, feel free to tuck in for the night. You two look pretty road weary, I don't have the heart to turn you boys away. Maybe you can repay us by talking to the NCR guys about getting us some help instead."

"Gee thanks…" he grumbled.

"Really, thank you for letting us stay, it's been a long day. We're heading to the Mohave Outpost anyways so, we'll be sure to tell them about what's going on here for you," Scott jumped in, not wanting his brother's attitude to get the offer rescinded.

The pair of them headed to the barracks, stopping as they came across a Naked Molerat. He was about a foot and a half tall with large front teeth and claws; Scott noticed that he was limping along.

"Hey, what's wrong little guy?" he asked, crouching down to talk to the gentle creature. The Molerat snuffled and held out his paw, showing them that it was bleeding. "Aw, let me fix that for you," Scott offered, easily swinging his pack onto the ground and opening it up. He pulled out some antibiotics and bandages and easily patched up the creature's arm. "There ya go!"

Stiles couldn't help but smile as the little guy snuffled happily and nosed Scott's arms in thanks. One of the workers came up to them and patted the little guy's head.

"Hey, you patched up Snuffles, thanks for that. None of us here really have any experience in medical stuff. If we get hurt we're off to Deaton in Goodsprings. Thankfully he takes our paper money for patching us up. But we can't get Snuffles to leave the camp and Deaton doesn't leave the town, so the poor guy has been limping around."

"Happy to help," Scott told him as he got back on his feet. They waved to the worker and continued walking.

"Dude, Deathclaws?" Stiles finally whispered as they stopped outside the worker's barracks. "We've never actually come across those have we?"

Scott shook his head, "No, I kinda wanna see what they look like. You up for sneaking a peek at them in the morning?"

"Totally. Maybe they aren't that bad, I mean, Chomps wouldn't be the first person to underestimate us," Stiles agreed.

The other workers all pretty much ignored them as they dropped off their packs on a spare bunk; normally they'd never leave their stuff unattended but this was technically an NCR operation so they didn't really worry about it. Stiles nudged his brother before they sat down to take off their shoes, gesturing that they should take one last look around outside. They didn't want to mess up the worker's hospitality by luring the straggling PG idiots here. Might as well just double check that none of them were coming this way before calling it a night, even though both of them were dead tired- it always paid to be overly cautious in this world.

Scott nodded his head, "Good idea."

The two of them went back out into the night; they were mostly going to be relying on Scott's awesome night vision since Stiles hadn't found any Cateye laying around lately. They only made it a few steps before they were halted by the amber glow in the streets and a low growl in the air.

Isaac had tried and tried to think of Derek, of making him proud and staying in control but without having his Alpha here to help keep him under control, Isaac felt himself slipping. Minutes later, the pull of the nearby heartbeats was too much for him to ignore and he stalked out of the bushes. A growl started rumbling low in his throat of its own accord- he didn't need to be sneaky, Humans weren't much of a challenge. And here was one, all alone, standing in the middle of the road! As he came closer, finally within sight range for the weaker Human, he couldn't help but grin at the sound of his racing heart, it made his Wolf howl with delight.

"Isaac?! Dude, what are you doing?" Stiles called out. "Chomps don't shoot, please, we know him."

"I'll have to if he comes any closer… he was here just a few minutes ago and he was fine!" Chomps called out, his gun raised.

"Scott, distract him, the full moon must be messing with his head… What the hell is he doing out here if he can't control it? And where the hell is Sourwolf Alpha?" Stiles called out. "Chomps, get inside, we'll take care of it. He's not a bad guy, I swear."

Luckily Chomps must have dealt with Weres before because he didn't just turn tail and run, instead he took small steps towards the buildings. As he backed away, Scott let out a loud snarl and rushed Isaac, completely pulling his attention away from the Human. Stiles winced as they collided, Isaac snarling aggressively and attempting to throw Scott off of him; Scott had the advantage of being in complete control, his mind was clearer. Stiles ran down the road, calling out to Isaac, hoping to lure him further away from Sloan and any stupid idiots that might poke their heads out to see what the commotion was. If he could just get closer to the Quarry, most of the Humans should be safe, then Scott could do his best to rein Isaac in. Or at least maybe the sound of their fighting would get to Derek.

Stiles sprinted as Isaac finally got loose from Scott and came running after him; he knew Scott would never let Isaac get close enough to hurt him, so as long as he was chasing after a moving target, Stiles was going to give him something to chase. He had just caught sight of the entrance of the quarry when he heard some scuffling behind him- Scott must have tackled Isaac again. As he turned around to look, something blindsided him and flung him across the road, a loud roar filling his ears. He grunted in pain as he hit the road and rolled, the fresh burn on his arm protesting at the harsh treatment. Luckily the roar had got both Weres's attention and they shifted to focus on the huge beast coming towards Stiles.

"Stiles!" Scott shouted, rising to his feet and sprinting to the hulking, bipedal reptilian creature. It stood at least 9 feet tall with long arms reaching down to its knees, 12 inch claws at the end of each digit. No wonder they were called Deathclaws… Scott watched in horror as Stiles attempted to stand and escape but the animal was fast and was on Stiles as he was climbing to his feet- claws already raised and slashing downward.

Stiles tried to dive out of the way when he realized that the beast was right on top of him but he was too slow and he felt his skin tear across his back. He cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, barely registering the snarling coming from the two Weres running at him. Stiles did his best to block out the pain and crawl away, before the second blow came, surely this one would be his head- he wasn't going to die on Scott, not again.

Isaac fought off his attacker, mind racing at to why this Were was attacking him- was this Human his prey? He didn't know that the Were was hunting in this area; but the other Wolf wasn't hurting him… just restraining him. What did that mean? Isaac was fighting with the urge to bite into the Were's neck when he heard a scream of terror and scented another creature nearby. A big one, something that made the hair on his tail stand on edge; when he looked up, he saw the light-skinned monster and froze. He needed to get out of here, that thing would easily tear him to pieces, Werewolf healing or not. Isaac blinked in surprise when the Were next to him bolted straight towards the creature, was he insane? Isaac stood and started to back away when the wind shifted and he caught a strong whiff of the Human's scent. He Wolf growled and snarled, hating the smell of the Human in distress! Without a second thought he raced forward and sprinted past the other Were, diving across the ground and covering the Human with his own body.

Stiles whimpered a bit at the sudden weight that flung itself at him, was Scott seriously going to let himself get torn up instead? The roar of pain that sounded from above him made him tilt his head in surprise- that wasn't Scott that just got hit.

"Isaac?" he asked. He flinched as he felt another swipe hit the body above him before the Deathclaw was tackled off of them. Before he could say anything else, Stiles was hauled to his feet and dragged towards the abandoned machinery on the side of the road.

They were almost there when a second Deathclaw, thankfully an adolescent (judging by its smaller frame) this time, leapt in their path and swiped at them. Isaac snarled at it and slid Stiles behind him, doing his best to hold the Human up and face this creature at the same time. He still didn't completely understand why but his Wolf wanted, no needed, to keep this Human safe. Isaac wasn't sure if he'd be able to fight this thing while holding up the guy behind him but couldn't just drop him either… he could still hear the fight going on from the other Were and if he lost… that monster was going to come straight for them and they'd be screwed.

"Isaac, it's okay, I can stand… kinda…" a voice whispered from behind him.

Stiles sighed in relief when it seemed Isaac understood him and let go, stepping forward to challenge the Deathclaw. He couldn't help but wince when he noticed the deep gashes down Isaac's back, from the first attack. Why had he stepped in like that? Suddenly his mind was flooded with Scott as he heard Scott's telltale snarl coming from behind him. After he dropped to his knees, since he was wobbling dangerously, he turned and saw that thankfully Scott had the first Deathclaw on the ground and was tearing into its throat. After that he'd be able to come help Isaac with this one- hopefully neither of them were hurt too bad. His own back was still screaming in agony and he was started to feel dizzy… Stiles could barely focus on the fighting going around him, needing most of his energy to stay upright.

"Scott, please be okay… Don't die over something like this," Stiles mumbled to himself.

As he felt himself start to fall forward, he felt arms around him the pulled him to his feet again, dragging him towards the large piece of quarry equipment. Isaac was limping and whimpering as he dragged Stiles with him, Stiles could see the blood dripping down his leg. Once they reached the machine, Isaac pushed him up against it and started pressing on his back, wanting to stop the bleeding. He couldn't help but wince at the pressure, even though he knew it was needed. Hopefully Scott would get the packs and come back with something to help fix him, because Scott was not missing any limbs or bleeding out, Stiles refused to even think like that.

"Stiles are you-" Scott started to ask before he was cut off by Isaac snarling at him.

"I'm fine Scotty… well my back is tore up, I don't know how bad," Stiles called out over his shoulder, Isaac's body prevented him from turning all the way around. "Isaac is keeping pressure on it, can you tell me how bad his wounds are… are you bleeding?"

"I got a few cuts but they are healing, I'll eat some of the Gecko meat we have, no biggie. Isaac, he's looking pretty tore up but, I think he'll heal okay… as long as he has enough fuel to burn. We've got to get you back to Sloan, you won't heal like us."

"Scott, he's not going to let you near me, and he thinks this is the safest place right now. Seriously, he's got me backed into a corner and isn't letting anything near me… best thing for you to do is go find Derek, maybe he'll be able to rein Isaac in and pull him back. Really I'll be fine for now, I really don't think he's going to eat me, the faster you leave the faster you'll get back here, no arguing," Stiles ordered.

Scott grumbled under his breath but ran off, heading straight for Goodsprings, praying that Stiles was right about Isaac's state of mind. But he did have a point, Isaac was coherent enough to keep Stiles pressed into a corner, to make sure nothing was getting to him- unless they went through Isaac first. As soon as he made it passed Sloan, he started howling, knowing that Derek had to be worried about his Beta.

*Goodsprings*

Derek led Erica and Boyd to the small cave he had found, southeast of the town proper; it was a den to some coyotes but he'd managed to persuade them to share it for the night. As it was, the mother had her cubs huddled at the back of the cave, not wanting them to get too close to the Werewolves at the entrance.

"Erica, are you sure you have an Anchor? I mean, you aren't used to being unchained during the full moon right?" Derek asked as he led them there.

"You explained it when you came back to the bar, and I was talking to Boyd about it a lot. I swear I can do it if you both are here to keep me in check. It might take me a bit to really feel in control but I think I'll manage to not completely rampage," Erica told them, running her brush through her freshly trimmed tail. As she thought about how long it might take for the hair to grow back, she could feel her tail tingling and hoped that it meant it would be soon.

"Boyd, are you okay watching her? This isn't her first full moon but, she never really had an Anchor before. I need to go find Isaac, it's not like him to not be here. I can feel that he's safe but… I'm still worried. I'll try to be back before the bloodlust gets bad. Howl if you think you can't keep her in control."

Boyd nodded and turned to Erica and the Alpha disappeared outside; "Are you sure you have a good Anchor?"

"Yea, I know what I need to think about to stay in control… Just… can you do me a favor?" Erica asked; Boyd nodded and waited for her to continue. "Just… when I start to lose myself, just keep saying my name. Before, at Primm, no one ever called me by my name during the full moon. At best it was always 'girl' and I'd rather not say what the worst one was."

"I can do that for you," Boyd promised. He patted the rock next to him, "Might as well sit down, it's going to be a long night."

Erica nodded, "I hope Derek is able to find Isaac, I mean, I only just met him but, he really doesn't seem like the type that would go missing. Especially since this is his first full moon and he's really nervous about it."

"Yea, he went for a walk but there is no way he got lost, and if he had gotten in a fight, we would have heard it right? Were fights aren't exactly quiet, and Derek said he didn't feel any pain coming from Isaac so… Maybe he found his own cave to hole up in?" Boyd offered.

They waited awhile and became slightly concerned when Derek didn't reappear right away; the itchiness was starting to get to Erica. She started pacing inside the cave, her eyes glowing amber and her tail was flicking the air behind her. In just a few minutes, she felt the fog start in as her Wolf's instincts started to cloud her judgment, luckily about that time, Boyd decided to speak up.

"Hey, Erica, fight the pull, you can stay in control, I believe in you," he whispered, not wanting to startle her by breaking the silence.

Erica turned at looked at him, whimper just slightly, Erica, that was her name. Erica… she had a name, she was a person.

Boyd smiled as she stopped pacing, "Yea, there you go, stay calm Erica."

"Erica," she whispered. "Erica, not Monster… Erica."

He watched as her gaze turned inward and she wrapped her arms around herself, clearly her experiences at Primm weren't that amazing. He left her to her own devices, as long as she didn't suddenly run out of here, she was fine to do whatever kept her in control. He sat there himself and flexed is fingers, taking the time to himself to think back on what Erica had told him. He'd be able to control his phases? How come no one at the trading company had told him that? He had of course known that there were Alphas that could control it but none of the Betas in his group had learned to control their shifting. Scott was the first non-Alpha Wolf he'd ever seen with complete control like that. He hadn't even known Scott was a Were until Isaac had blurted it out, commented that he wished he could be like that Wolf on the road.

Erica was convincing herself to stay in control, even though she could feel the Wolf side of her fighting for dominance. She wasn't a monster, she was a person, only monsters lost control, only monsters needed to be locked up during the full moons. Now she had Derek, so she didn't have to be locked up, she was fine. Thinking back to what Derek had yelled at the Human on the road, she had decided then that she knew what her Anchor was going to be- her humanity. Even if others thought they were beasts, she knew deep down that they had feelings just like Humans and it was important that she never forget that. Hearing Derek talk about all of that really helped to ground her, unlike before, she just completely let the Wolf take control and didn't fight it at all. Erica looked up as she sensed her Alpha coming closer to the cave- surely he'd be proud of her for this.

Derek interrupted their thoughts as he poked his head back into the cave, checking on the two of them. "Erica, holding up okay? Looks like you're doing really well," he said with a smile. He was rewarded with a wag of her tail.

"She's holding herself together really well, seems like she did find a good Anchor," Boyd agreed.

"Isaac?" she asked, feeling in control enough to remember her other Packmate.

Derek grimaced, "Haven't found him, although I did find his scent trail and it led out of town. Then I got some painful twinges, so I think he's getting into trouble, bad enough that I can feel it. I'm going to venture farther away and follow his scent. I promised I'd never let anything happen to him."

"We'll be fine here, right Erica?"

She nodded and sat down on the rock, since at least now she didn't feel the need to pace around or hunt something. "In control."

"I'll be back with him as soon as I can," Derek promised. He could tell that Erica was still on the edge of control since she wasn't forming complete sentences but she was talking and not growling which was plenty enough for Derek. He could really only hope that Isaac had any control at all right now. This was his first full moon and he wasn't even with his Alpha… Derek sure was doing a bang-up job at this Alpha thing. Since he couldn't keep track of one Beta, he now had to leave his second Beta. Thankfully Boyd was okay with stepping up and helping Erica while he tried to help Isaac. As he started to head out of town, he heard a howl- it wasn't Isaac but, it was coming closer and the odds were high Isaac had something to do with it. He sprinted towards the voice, throwing out a howl of his own so they knew he was coming.

"Derek! Derek, you gotta hurry," Scott yelled out as soon as they caught sight of each other. Without even waiting for Derek to catch up to him, Scott spun on his heel and started leading the way back to the quarry, there was no time to waste.

"What's going on, Isaac has been hurt, how bad?" Derek asked as he chased after the boy.

"His back is all scratched up, but he should be healing… as long as no other Deathclaws come after them…"

Deathclaws? Shit, Isaac was in some serious trouble if he was dealing with a pack of those. And it didn't escape his notice that Scott mentioned 'them' and that Stiles wasn't with him. He didn't even need his Wolf senses to pick up on the distress that was coming off the younger Werewolf, he was worried about his brother. "What happened?" Derek asked- he needed as much information as he could get if he was to get control of his Beta.

"Stiles and I walked outside at Sloan and saw him stalking Chomps, clearly not in total control of himself. We managed to get all the people inside and lured Isaac further away. Then we were blindsided by a Deathclaw… Stiles got hurt and for whatever reason, Isaac helped me to save him. But then, when I was trying to get to Stiles, Isaac wouldn't let me near him, so Stiles told me to just come get you."

The Alpha frowned as he listened, clearly Isaac wasn't in control, but then why did he decide to save a Human instead of hunt him? In fact, his wolf instincts should have been to just book it when he saw the Deathclaws but instead he put himself in danger. As they got closer to Sloan and the Quarry, Derek was relieved to not hear any signs of fighting going on- now if only there was a better breeze, he'd be able to tell if they were already dead or not.

"Stiles?!" Scott called out, needing to hear his voice.

He got a weak response of "Still here Bro," but it was more than enough for him. They skidded to a stop next to the excavator that Isaac still had them both pressed against.

"Dude, he hasn't let me move and he keeps whimpering, what's going on?" Stiles asked, glad to have Scott back.

"Isaac, let him go," Derek called out, not wanted to Order him just yet, seeing if maybe there was some of Human Isaac in there right now.

Isaac let out a quick snarl that ended in a whimper, his face full of worry as he looked back at them. Stiles was hurt, he was bleeding, he needed to stop the bleeding! Every time Stiles tried to move, Isaac held him closer, moving was making it worse. But then the voice was back in his head, loud and clear, pushing away a bit of the fog.

"Isaac, it's me Derek, your Alpha, you have to let us help him. You're both bleeding!"

Cautiously Isaac turned around fully, but he kept Stiles behind him, just in case the younger Wolf wanted to hurt Stiles.

"Dude… why is he not trying to eat me right now?" Stiles asked, wincing in pain as he turned to face them. At the mention of eating him, Isaac seemed to whine louder and then glared at Scott, like Scott was the most likely one to cross that line.

Derek frowned at Isaac, "I'm not sure just yet but that's not the most important thing, we need to get both of you back to Sloan and healed. See if you can't talk him into going with you."

Stiles sighed in exasperation, why would Isaac listen to him when he wasn't even really listening to his Alpha but it was worth a shot. "Hey Isaac, buddy, I need to sit down. Can we go back to the people?"

Isaac whirled around and whimpered, people might try to hurt them more, people weren't to be trusted! Except Stiles of course, Stiles was safe. Stiles took a few small steps, doing his best not to wince but Isaac knew he was in pain. Clearly Stiles was wanting to go somewhere, but Isaac didn't want him walking and hurting himself; at the same time, he didn't want to put his back to the unknown Werewolf. He growled at the younger Wolf and gestured for him to move away.

"Back away Scott, I think he doesn't want you too close to Stiles right now. His Wolf doesn't recognize you so he sees you as a threat to Stiles," Derek informed him. Scott opened his mouth to argue but the Alpha silenced him with a glare.

"It's fine Scott, let's just work on getting me some help, without anymore fighting," Stiles said. As he spoke, Isaac crouched down in front of him, gesturing for him to climb onto his back; Stiles groaned, this was going to be awkward. But it was probably the easiest way to carry him without tearing his back any further so he climbed on. Scott and Derek made sure to stay in front of Isaac and slowly they made their way back down the highway to the buildings of Sloan.

"That building there is the barracks, where all of our stuff is. If we can get Stiles onto the bunk, I can fix him up with the stuff we have. Do you think Isaac will let me?" Scott asked.

Derek nodded, "He'll have to, I'll hold him down if he refuses to let you get close."

When they finally reached the building, Scott went and knocked on the door, not wanting to surprise any of the workers. "Hey, we're coming in, Isaac is mostly under control and Stiles is hurt, I need to patch him up. Isaac's Alpha is here though so there shouldn't be any more problems."

There was some rustling as Chomps asked the workers to head over to the admin building and give the guys space. The boys were standing off to the side as the workers filed past, Isaac growling a low warning at them all. Scott mumbled a quick thank you and led the way to their spare bunk; Isaac easily grasped that Stiles wanted to be set down on the bed. As he crouched down and let him climb down, he stayed next to the bed, carefully watching what Scott was up to. Derek gently moved him to the head of the bed, so he wouldn't be in Scott's way, Isaac's hand quickly reaching over to grasp Stiles's.

"Thank God you still had this vest on, I think it saved your life, otherwise those claws would have gone in deeper. And they missed your spine too, that's a miracle in and of itself," Scott mumbled to himself and he cut away the ruined clothes. He pulled out one of the Stimpacks and used it on Stiles, wincing as Stiles hissed in pain. Then he pulled out that healing powder that Sunny had showed them how to make and sprinkled it into the slashes on his back- that should stop the bleeding as well as get his blood cell production back up. All that was left was to put some bandages on him and get him to Deaton in the morning. As soon as he stepped back, Isaac climbed onto the bed and curled protectively around Stiles again, much to everyone's surprise.

Derek tapped Scott on the shoulder and pulled him back a few steps, "We might have an issue."

"Why is he so focused on Stiles? He didn't really seem to like either of us that much this morning on the road," Scott asked.

"The Wolf often picks up on different things than the Human side does, when we were on the road, the Human side was still in control. Clearly Isaac has this strong need to protect Stiles," Derek explained.

"Well yea, so do I," Scott scoffed.

The Alpha rolled his eyes, "But you've known him for years, Isaac had a brief meeting with him a few hours ago and now he's risking his own life to save him. He should have ran the second he caught scent of the Deathclaws, any Wolf would have. Isaac's been running on pure instinct tonight, this is his first full moon."

"Are you serious? No wonder he was going after Chomps…"

"Yea, so that means, something about Stiles pulled him back from those instincts and into protection mode." Derek had an idea of what this meant, but he didn't want to discuss it now, not before Isaac came to his senses and was able to speak for himself. It's possible that Stiles just reminded Isaac of his family or something, but whatever it was, these protective instincts weren't to be taken lightly. They'd have to discuss it all in the morning, he really should get back to Erica and Boyd.

"Isaac, come on, we have to go," Derek said.

Isaac let out a pitiful whimper and curled around the other boy even closer, burying his head in Stiles's shoulder blade.

"I think he'll be fine here, I don't think he's going to move unless someone gets too close to Stiles right now," Scott offered.

Derek just sighed, "Bring him to Goodsprings in the morning, that's where I'll be. If he becomes a problem, howl for me and I'll drag him out of here."

Scott nodded and slowly approached the bed, happy that Isaac didn't start growling at him this time. "Stiles, how you doing?"

"Tired, and I have this lump on top of me, it's weird knowing it's not you dude… But, I'll survive, I can feel the Stimpack kicking in."

"Alright, that's good, now let's see if I can't get Isaac to shift a little so I can get some sleep too…"

During their conversation, Derek waved to Chomps, they were safe to go back to their posts (or bunks for some of them). He stayed and helped Scott talk Isaac into shifting closer to the wall, Stiles in the middle, so Scott could take the outer portion of the small bunk. Once the three of them were as settled as they were going to get, Derek left and sprinted back to his other Beta, eager to check in on her.

*Sloan, morning*

Isaac stretched and nuzzled closer to the warm body in front of him, breathing their scent in; it took him a moment to register that he didn't actually know this scent. Sure he recognized it, and it made him smile but… who was it? He sat up in bed and looked around, heart spiking as he didn't recognize his surroundings but smelled blood. Beside him someone stirred and yelped in pain.

"Holy fuck, how could I possibly forget about that?" Stiles cursed as he felt his back twinge when he stretched.

"Dude, scoot over, you're hogging the bunk," Scott mumbled from beside him.

Stiles looked and realized that Scott was indeed on the edge of their bed and apologized, carefully scooting closer to the wall. Well, until he realized there was another warm body behind him.

"What am I doing here?" Isaac asked, doing his best to not freak out.

Stiles did his best to turn and face him without hurting his back, "You don't remember last night?"

Isaac took in the smell of blood and the bandages on Stiles's back, "I didn't hurt you did I? Please tell me I didn't… last night was the full moon… I came here to drop off a letter and then… then things are kinda fuzzy."

"Naw man, these aren't from you… I wouldn't have you sleeping behind me if you did this to me, and neither would Scott. Deathclaw; got you too, but I'm sure you're all healed up from it."

"Come on, since we're awake, we better not keep Derek waiting… he wants us, or you, in Goodsprings so we better head out. I want to get him to Deaton as well," Scott told them as he rolled out of bed, waking up a bit more. Now that the other two were up, Scott felt like it was a waste of time to try and get more sleep. He grabbed up one of the packs and found a shirt for Stiles, tossing it to him. "Get dressed, come on slow pokes."

"Oh heaven forbid at least one of us doesn't have awesome healing abilities and can't just roll out of bed Fluffy-Butt!" Stiles complained as he sat up slowly.

Isaac awkwardly climbed off the bed and helped Stiles to stand before backing away, he didn't understand why he wanted to help. As he stood and waited for Stiles to get dressed, he realized that he felt a breeze; looking over his shoulder he saw that his shirt and pants were all tore up. Thankfully he had left the white hoodie with his pack- Isaac would have felt awful if he had ruined the one thing Derek gave him. The scarf came of his neck in a panic, needing to make sure that as still unharmed as well. Isaac let out a huge sigh of relief when there wasn't a scratch in the knitting; it wasn't going to fray on him. Moments later he followed the guys out into the early morning light, walking slow so Stiles could keep an easy pace.

"So, do you remember anything?" Stiles asked.

"Dude, drop it, Derek is his Alpha and will want to talk to him about it," Scott cut in. He wasn't sure if Isaac wanted to talk about it just yet, and he also didn't want him to say anything that Derek might not want said. They last thing they needed was a pissed of Alpha that thought they were trying to influence Isaac's memories.

"Okay, sorry… I just know that I don't like not remembering stuff," Stiles replied testily. He turned to Isaac, "Okay ignore my previous question, instead, would you dig me out some of the dandy apples in the pack please, I'm hungry."

Isaac nodded and pulled the pack off of his shoulders and started rummaging through it, since obviously Stiles wasn't able to carry it. Once he found them he wordlessly handed them to Stiles and closed the bag. The rest of the walk was filled with awkward silence, but it at least gave Isaac time to sort through his hazy memory and piece together what he could of last night, although truthfully it only made him more confused. They were about halfway to Goodsprings when Derek called out to them, standing on a small hill.

"Isaac, how are you feeling?"

"Completely confused but Human so that's a plus right?"

"Come on, Erica wants to see you and make sure you're alright. She's never had a Packmate before so she's a little worried," Derek chuckled, waving him over.

Isaac handed the bag to Scott and waved good-bye; he felt a strange pang of sadness at leaving them, but he had no reason to disobey Derek either so he settled with looking back at them, at Stiles. Hopefully Deaton would be able to get Stiles patched up, it was way too risky to travel the Wastes with an injury.

"Come on, we've still got a ways to go," Scott said quietly.

"Yea, thanks for not trying to stitch me up, I'd rather not have vicious scars down my back," Stiles said dryly.

Scott almost shoved him but pulled his hand back at the last second, "If you don't stop complaining I'm going to make you carry your own pack the rest of the way."

"No you wouldn't, you love me too much," Stiles laughed.

It took them a long time to finally enter Goodsprings and thankfully not too many people were milling about in morning heat. Stiles sighed in anguish as he eyed the incline to get into the doctor's house. Scott stayed right by his side, ignoring Stiles's pitiful pleas to just let him die instead. Derek must have warned Deaton of their arrival because the front door was open before Scott even raised his hand to knock.

"Come on in, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that you're back again so soon," Deaton told them, a small smile playing on his lips. "Decided to go play with the Deathclaws in Quarry Junction? You really are hard to kill- anyone else wouldn't have come out of that alive you know."

"Well really I was just trying to save some poor sap from getting eaten by a Were… I didn't know the monsters were going to just come out of nowhere and attack. But at least now we know all about Deathclaws, right Scott?"

"More than enough… Chomps was right, I don't think we can handle this pest problem," Scott mumbled, helping Stiles onto the medical cot. "I gave him a Stimpack and put some healing powder on him but he might still need stitches…"

"I'll take a look and let you know, if I can fix a bullet in the head, I can fix some Deathclaw slashes. He's awake and coherent so that's the best sign. Off with the shirt Stiles."

The courier sighed and carefully took off his shirt before lying down on his stomach, hopefully it wouldn't scar too bad. As it was, he was probably made up of more scar tissue now than anything else, unless of course you could count sarcasm.

*Goodsprings Cave*

"Isaac, oh thank God!" Erica cried out as soon as the pair ducked into the cave. She pulled her Packmate into a hug, scenting his cheek with hers.

Isaac shyly returned the hug, not quite used to physical contact being initiated; he happily scented her back, he had a Packmate now! "Sorry to worry you… I… Some kid asked me to deliver a letter for him, his dad is over in Sloan. I thought I'd make it back in time… I didn't realize it was so late and then I just- I tried to stay in control but," he trailed off, ashamed that he lost dominance over the Wolf. Derek tried to warn him it would be hard but, he thought he'd have a good enough Anchor. "How did you hold up?" he asked, wanting to change the topic.

Erica shrugged, "I think I did okay, Boyd said that I didn't run out of the cave or try to fight him so that's a plus."

"You did great, this was your first full moon with an Anchor, a real one. And you managed to stay in control without me here for part of the night. That's an incredible achievement," Derek praised. He'd felt so guilty about leaving her, even though Boyd was here. Alphas had to protect their Betas, and he failed them both last night. "Thanks for being here Boyd… I would have been in real trouble without you."

"Derek… I'm sorry I made things difficult. Really, I thought I'd be back in time… and then I did my best to stay in control but I couldn't," Isaac called out, sensing that Derek was feeling like a bad Alpha. He had messed up and now Derek was blaming himself- it was Isaac's fault that he wasn't here for Erica. "I'm sorry Erica, I didn't let you be with your Alpha when you needed him."

Erica rushed forward and shook Isaac lightly, "You needed him more Isaac, you were scared and alone out there, trying to do your best to stay Human! I had Boyd, and I had my Anchor, you're probably still trying to find one that works. I've had a few moons before this so I at least knew what the pull was going to feel like. You had nothing to draw on. I'm just glad you didn't get killed by someone, or hurt anyone. Plus, Derek came back to check on me, and after he found you, he was here the rest of the night."

"Speaking of that, what do you remember from last night Isaac?" Derek prompted.

The Beta flushed and twitched his ears; he didn't remember much except for Stiles, but how was he going to tell them that? He just started talking, hoping it would come back to him after her started. "I uh, well, I guess I'll start from when I was on my way back here. I felt my head go all foggy and all the heartbeats were driving me crazy. I tried to focus on you, but it didn't last long. Um, I vaguely remember trying to hunt someone, but then there was another Wolf fighting with me. But he wasn't trying to hurt me, just, pin me down. That must have been Scott now that I think about it. I remember chasing someone, away from Sloan, away from all the people- I can remember thinking that it was a stupid move on their part. But really it must have been for everyone's safety. When the Deathclaw showed up, I was scared… so scared." Isaac started playing with his tail then, doing his best not to lose himself in the memories of last night.

"It's weird, I remember thinking that I needed to run, that I was going to die if I fought that beast. But all of a sudden, this scent came to me and it just… it changed everything. I just kept thinking, I need to save him, over and over again. I had to make sure he was safe! So I ran forward, towards the thing, and protected him- Stiles. I didn't even know it was Stiles, just, Him. He was bleeding and in pain, we had to get somewhere safe. A second Deathclaw came out of nowhere and luckily I was able to fight it, kill it, somehow. Then I just went into this protective frenzy, I didn't want anyone near Him, he's Human and that means he's vulnerable. I do remember you showing up, and you wanted to pull me away from Him, but that I didn't want that. I needed to stay and protect Him."

Derek frowned as he listened to Isaac recount his thoughts from the night before, he had hoped it wasn't like this but… "Isaac, do you know what that means?"

He looked to Erica and Boyd before shaking his head, "I have no idea… even now, I didn't want to part from Stiles but, I wanted to come see Erica at the same time."

"I'm just glad you didn't kill him, Scott would be after us in a heartbeat," Erica mumbled. Scott clearly wouldn't stand a chance against them but, she'd hate to have to fight him over an accidental death.

"I could never kill him!" Isaac said, eyes wide.

"Which really only means one thing, Isaac I-" Derek paused. How did you tell someone that they found their Mate? He didn't even believe the stories his mom used to tell him and the others. About how when you meet your Mate, they are always on your mind, that their life is more important than your own. She said that his dad was her Mate and they lived happily together for years, never fought. Derek had never found that, not in his 25 years on this planet. He doubted he ever would honestly- the idea of loving someone, of dedicating your time to them in such a way… he didn't understand it. Pack was one thing, Pack ties he understood, especially now that he was an Alpha. Hell, even sex he could understand, he had needs after all and occasionally a hot someone to spend the night with was appreciated. But after that, they went their separate ways and he never looked back.

"Isaac, I think, Stiles might be your Mate," Derek stated.

"What does that mean?" Erica asked; Isaac was too shocked to do anything but stare.

Derek ran his hand over his face, this was going to be a bit awkward. "Well, there are different reactions for different Werewolves, so remember that. For some reason, Isaac, your Wolf side immediately became attached to Stiles, even when you weren't aware of who it was you were protecting. This was how it happened with one of my uncles- all of a sudden he attached to this woman and she became his Anchor and everything he needed in life. My mom explained it as, finding the person that best completes you, so you'll never want for anything."

"So how can my Wolf decide that? I just met him!" Isaac sputtered, disbelief on his face.

"Like I said, it different for everyone; I, I can't speak from any kind of experience, I've never had that feeling before. There is something that your Wolf needed and he found it, in Stiles, he knew immediately that Stiles was important and needed to be saved at all costs. Even if I can't fully explain that feeling to you, I know it has to be true because… he pulled you out of your instinctive phase and straight into protective mode. And on your first full moon no less- it's almost impossible to abstain from the bloodlust your first time, especially if you don't have your Alpha there to keep you under control. You were succumbing to the bloodlust and then, suddenly it was gone."

Isaac nodded slightly, "Yea, I, I remember that. One second I was thinking that I needed to save myself and then when I caught his scent, it wasn't about me anymore, it was about him."

Erica whimpered slightly, catching everyone's attention. "What… what if Stiles doesn't return those feelings? I mean, he's only Human right? So he doesn't have a Wolf to decide on what he needs…"

"I'm not going to tell him!" Isaac cried out. "Seriously… I mean.. I just met him and all of a sudden this gets dumped on my lap? Oh no, I'm not going to be that random stranger that confesses his love. I mean, okay so well, my Wolf picked a… a dude, I don't even know how I feel about that right now but, like Stiles being into me? That's laughable."

"Don't sell yourself short Isaac, who knows what or who might be his type- maybe your Wolf picked up on his attraction to you," Erica suggested, looking to Derek for backup.

The Alpha just shrugged, he was totally out of his element here, "That's possible, as I said, I have no experience with this at all. Just stories and examples that my family gave us all growing up, although I will say, no one told us that a Wolf ever picked someone that didn't return the feeling."

"Like I said, I'm not telling him, that's just, that's a real big bomb to drop on someone out of the blue you know?" Isaac reiterated, fingers threading through his tail fur in an effort to calm himself down. "Even if your family was right about the returning the feelings thing, it's too big of a risk. He doesn't know me, how could he like me?"

"Even if you don't tell him, your Wolf… your Wolf is attached now, and it's a big part of who you are Isaac. We'll have to figure something out, you can't just walk away from him- you'll go insane wondering if he's okay." Derek walked closer to Isaac, clapping him on the shoulder, "We'll just, start off slow okay. Let's go see how they are doing, I'm sure they're still in Goodsprings so."

"Yea, I think that would be a great place to start, maybe these feelings have passed already," Isaac said. No one was fooled though, it was obvious that Isaac was just trying to make himself feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woot, chapter 11, the two groups are starting to get more intertwined! How do you think Isaac's situation is going to go? I'm proud of Erica finding an Anchor finally and realizing that she doesn't have to be the monster the people in Primm thought she was. Derek is having a rough time but, I think he's managing okay- it could definitely be worse, that's for sure.


	12. Together in Goodsprings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles gets patched up and then the pair decide to stay in Goodsprings for a few days. Of course Derek and his Pack are staying in town as well- what is Isaac going to do?

*Goodsprings*

"Okay Scott, you can come see him now, he's all stitched up. I'm glad Sunny showed you how to make healing powder, that probably saved his live. He would have lost a lot of blood otherwise, even with the Stimpack increasing his red blood cell production."

"Thanks Deaton… any words for my recovery- other than take it easy… that one is obvious," Stiles asked, slowly sitting up again.

Scott rolled his eyes, "Yea and one you're probably going to ignore!"

"Better not, or he'll tear his stitches and start bleeding, risk infection; it will get real nasty real fast," the doctor warned.

"No, for real this time, I'm going to take it easy. Probably stay in town for a few days before we hit the road. And we can travel at night Scott, since your senses will keep us safe. That way I don't waste too much energy in the heat you know."

"Get plenty of fluids, the Stimpack has worn off by now so you'll have to help keep your body hydrated."

Stiles nodded and pulled his shirt over his head, carefully rolling his shoulders to test out his range of movement. After a moment he walked over to his pack and slowly knelt down, pulling out a handful of caps. "Here Doc, I owe you, a lot. We never did pay you for fixing my head. We got a lot of caps now so, the least we can do is pay you."

Deaton shook his head, "You don't need to, you repaid me by saving the town from those outlaws the other day."

"Okay, well we'll call it even for you saving my life the first time, if you want but I refuse to leave here a second time without giving you some money."

Scott spoke up next, "And we found some supplies while we were out on the road; a Super Stimpack and even two doctor bags with a bunch of stuff in them. You can have those since I don't even know how to use the stuff in it- we insist."

Deaton sighed and smiled at the boys, it was rare to find such honesty in wanderers these days so it was refreshing. "I could really use the supplies, thank you. And if you insist on paying me something, fine, but I won't take anything over 40 caps. Stitches aren't that tricky."

The boys nodded in agreement and Stiles counted out the caps while Scott dug out the supplies; after they gave Deaton the stuff, Stiles suggested they go see Melissa. If he was going to stay hydrated, they might as well chat with her while they drank some water; plus if they were going to be staying here for at least two days, they needed to find a place to sleep. Melissa's bar was the best place to start since almost everyone in Goodsprings headed through there at some point.

"Maybe we'll even see Sunny again, tell her that her healing powder came in handy," Scott said.

Stiles situated his pack over his stomach, if he wore it backwards, it wouldn't rub and irritate his stitches. It must be what early pregnancy must feel like, if the baby was odd-shaped but at least it didn't kick him or anything. "I think it would be nice to see how Sunny is doing, Cheyenne too. I guess it doesn't matter much if she rats on you for being a Werewolf now…"

Deaton smiled at them as he held the door open, "We're pretty open here, as long as you don't cause trouble when you pass through you're more than welcome to come back."

Both boys smiled at him as they left the house and followed the road to the Saloon; of course as they entered, Cheyenne ran up to the door and greeted them with her usual bark. More surprising was that Isaac jumped off of a stool and took a few steps towards them as well, eyeing the dog carefully.

"So, all patched up? Isaac asked, biting down on his lip.

Stiles stood up with a small wince after giving Cheyenne some attention, "Yea, all stitched up, Deaton gave me like, 15 stitches I think he said. Now I've got to be careful for a few days, I mean hell, I won't even be able to take them out for at least a week."

"Deaton said two weeks," Scott argued. "Even that is kinda soon but he knows you don't live a calm lifestyle so that's the shortest his willing to go."

"Yea, yea, two weeks, fine! Mark it down in your Pip-boy so I don't cheat the days. But we're only staying here for like 3 days though right Scotty? I mean, I can't not… We've got shit to do."

Isaac cleared his throat, "Maybe relaxing here in a small town will feel better than you think. I mean, Goodsprings is a nice town, you should stay awhile and heal."

Scott raised his eyebrows and looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye, why was Isaac so interested in his health? Sure he helped save Stiles but, this seemed like something else. "We'll see how it goes, first we need to find someone that will take us in," Scott mentioned, sliding onto one of the stools.

Isaac cursed himself, here he was trying to tell himself that he was totally over whatever obsession he had with Stiles and then the moment he walks in, he loses his head. Keep it cool Isaac, just keep it cool. "There are plenty of nice folks here, someone is bound to give you couch space."

Melissa waved to them as she came back inside from the side door, "What's this? You boys are staying in town too?"

Scott nodded and smiled back at her, "Yea, Stiles needs to lie low for a bit, let his wounds heal, and we figured we might as well stay here since we owed Deaton some supplies."

"Now we just need to find some poor sap to take us in," Stiles added on, big grin on his face.

The bartender tsked, "Too bad you didn't get here a little sooner, I just promised these guys they could crash at our place. Sunny just went off to the house to clean up a bit."

"Thanks a lot Melissa, it really means a lot," Derek thanked again. He felt bad asking for a place to stay but Isaac had been adamant about staying in the area for a bit, so he could go apologize to the guys in Sloan and catch up with Melissa. Of course, there was also the fact that he'd be near Stiles since it had been an easy guess to assume he'd be off his feet for a few days.

"It's no biggie, I'd love to get to know you all better, Isaac was such a sweetheart the first time he came through here, it's good to know how he's doing."

Stiles playfully punched Isaac's shoulder, "Dude, I see how it is, weasel your way into her heart and take away our couch!"

Isaac turned around eyes wide, having missed the light tone, and started to stutter out an apology. "I didn't know that you didn't have a place to stay!"

"Hey, easy, I was just messing around Isaac. We'll find someone to take us in. It will only be for a few days. Nice to see you again by the way Boyd, guess I shouldn't be too surprised you met up with these three. We found them heading your way not long after we left you." Stiles smiled, nodding at the trader. Then he looked around at the group, "Wait how are all four of you going to be staying at Melissa's? I know for a fact that her couch barely fits two."

"Oh, I won't be there, I'm staying with the farmer, so I can be closer to Callie. She's in the pen with the Bighorners," Boyd explained. "And I'm glad to see you again as well, although I wish you two had stuck around a bit longer…"

Scott frowned, "What do you mean?"

The Were shifted on the stool, "Couple of guys came up to me and attacked me for being a Were, harassed Callie too."

"Oh, those sons of bitches!" Stiles growled, turning to Derek, "Tell me you were there to help him?"

Derek nodded, "Yea, we came up on them before they did too much damage, then we escorted him here, knowing it would be safer than him just being on the road."

"Too bad we weren't there, I would have shot them, I'm a Human so I can get away with it a bit easier than you could… Ugh, fucking assholes," Stile muttered darkly.

Scott cleared his throat, "Sorry to hear about that man, but I'm glad you walked away from it. But, um, back to housing, how are even three of you going to fit at Melissa's?"

"Well since they have two beds, they were nice enough to share one tonight so Isaac and I can share the other bed. Derek insisted on taking the couch," Erica smiled. She was actually going to share a bed with a Packmate! It might be a little weird since she got the vibe that Isaac was shy with touching, but she was just so happy to be around her new Pack… to actually have a Pack now. It was going to be nice to cuddle and start on her scenting, surely he'd let her get that close at least.

"You know what, you should talk to Easy Pete, he has a lot of space in his house and he trusts you boys. I'm sure he wouldn't mind having some company for a day or two," Melissa suggested.

"Oh hell yea, that sounds like fun! Where does he live?"

"Just right across the street actually."

Scott gently pushed Stiles down onto a barstool, "You stay here and get hydrated, I'll go talk to Pete okay?"

"Yes Mom," Stiles smiled, more than happy to be sitting, even if he couldn't slouch. He took the glass that Melissa handed him gratefully and sipped at the water. He was a little nervous around the Werewolves, especially since the blonde girl was staring at him… "So, um, everything went fine with the rest of you on the full moon?"

Erica nodded, "Yea, Isaac was the only one that was completely inexperienced, but I did have some troubles. I'm still relatively new, only the 4th moon under my belt. But Boyd here was more than happy to help since Derek couldn't be in two places at once."

"Oh, not bad, what about you Boyd?" he asked, sipping at his water some more.

"6 months, and I wasn't allowed out on my own until I could fully control my shifting on the full moon. I was a little nervous at handling Erica, but I didn't let her know that."

"You were nervous?" Erica asked, surprised at his admission. "You seemed so sure last night!"

"Yea, if you were nervous-" Derek started.

"I was absolutely sure I could keep her from hurting anyone, but I've never been responsible for another, younger Were. It was a bit overwhelming, but I trusted Erica when she said she had a good Anchor."

Derek leaned onto the bar, "Yea, I know how you feel."

Stiles perked up, "Dude, what are you talking about? You were totally on top of handling Isaac. I mean… he wandered away from the group and lost control, but that was before the moon came out. And obviously he's still in your Pack so that means you didn't get that mad at him right?"

"No, I wasn't mad. I was worried, he's my responsibility and I let him get lost and almost hurt someone… then he almost died because of those Deathclaws… I've only had a Pack for like… hell, 3 and a half days… I met Isaac my first night here, but we officially became Pack in the morning." Derek started ticking off his fingers, "We stayed by the border until nightfall, then went to Primm, slept there until morning, then dealt with those stupid Gangers… Erica joined my Pack, we came here. Then it was the full moon, and now today. So actually only three days."

"Oh hey, you came into Nevada the same night I got shot in the head, what a coincidence!" Stiles laughed, counting back in his head. Last night was the full moon and then they raided the correctional facility, , they'd traveled to Primm during the day, night before that they stayed with Melissa and Sunny. First day here he was recovering from the shot, and the night before that was when he'd been shot. "Wow, has it seriously only been three days? A lot of shit has happened… I've been so close to dying like 3 times… 4 if you actually count the shot to the head."

The Werewolves all looked at him, Isaac speaking up first, "That's… that's how you got that scar? I mean… I know you said that when we met on the road but, it didn't really sink in. Someone shot you?"

"Yea, left me for dead, honestly I have no idea why I'm alive right now… Scott and that robot fella, Victor, got me to Deaton and he patched me up. As far as I can tell, I'm perfectly fine, other than the scar."

"I think your sense of self preservation got knocked out of whack too," Erica said, raising a brow.

Stiles laughed loudly, just as Scott was coming back in, "Dude, Bro, Erica thinks it was the shot that skewed my sense of self preservation."

Scott rolled his eyes, "You couldn't be more wrong. He was born with that, and then having me as a best friend, one that got bit at a young age- Stiles took on everyone that dared to look at me like I was scum. I learned my way around a med kit pretty fast. He does some questionable things but his sense of right and wrong are pretty good, and he will not back down from someone that is crossing the line."

"That's why you boys helped us out when those Gangers came into town. It had nothing to do with you but you stayed and helped. Even got some of the townspeople involved to ensure we didn't lose," Melissa smiled. "What did Easy Pete say?"

"He'd be more than happy to let us stay. Warned me that he snores something fierce but, that's nothing we can't handle. Think the only reason he was so amiable about it was because we helped out the other day, and we can respect dynamite," Scott replied.

"Alright, place to sleep acquired, I can relax now," Stiles commented. He shifted uncomfortably on the stool and stood up. "Well I'd relax if I could get comfortable."

"Dude, you should be sitting," Isaac whimpered quietly, wanting Stiles to take it easy. As it was it had taken all of his self control to hold in his growl when Stiles talked about his scar.

"I can't sit… if I sit, that means I want to slouch and slouching pulls at my stitches. So, I have to stand. Trust me, eventually I'll just slouch and say fuck it, then I'd have to go back to Deaton before the sun sets."

Isaac whined and touched Stiles's arm, "I wish there was something I could do."

Stiles closed his eyes and hummed, "Just keep, yea that… Scott, I know I said to never do that but I honestly can't remember why I ever said that."

Isaac winced and sat straight, slight pain coming from nowhere; he also had no idea what Stiles was talking about.

"Dude, are you in that much pain?" Scott asked as he watched the black veins leech into Isaac's wrist.

"Yea, I've been banged up pretty good these last few days Scotty."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Scott argued.

Stiles was about to answer but Isaac let out a whimper and pulled his hand away, "What was that?"

"You were pulling pain… I didn't know you knew how to do that," Derek said, looking at Isaac.

"I-I don't? What do you mean?"

"Stiles is in pain right now, and you put your hand on him and leeched it into you, taking it away from him. You didn't know you were doing it?" the Alpha asked.

"No, I just… I wanted to help… Are you okay Stiles?" Isaac asked.

"Yea, I'm fine, I feel a lot better, thanks. Even if you didn't mean to. And to answer your question Scotty, I didn't say anything because I knew the first thing you'd want to do is leech pain and I told you that I didn't want that. Because then I'd know that you're in pain."

Scott groaned, "Yea but the pain goes away quickly for me after I let go, my body just processes it faster. And you stay pain free for a bit after I take it. Seriously if you're in a lot of pain, just tell me. I won't let you abuse it." He knew that part of the reason Stiles didn't like for him to do it was that he was afraid he'd become 'addicted' to it, and his pain threshold would drop really low. If he didn't know how to take pain, he'd be a big liability. Scott agreed with that point, if he didn't know how to fight past the pain, he'd be a mess but when they were safe, holed up together, it was okay to ask for help.

"I know you got my back Bro, I just… I got used to not asking, and up until a few days ago, we didn't get into that much trouble. Things just got really hectic lately. Isaac took a lot of it, so I'm good now anyways, promise." Stiles smiled at Scott, practically reading his thoughts on the subject. They'd talked about it a lot since they first found out that Scott could do that; Scott always reassured him that it was okay to want some pain relief now and then, he'd be happy to do it. But in some scenarios it was just too risky, and then after the danger passed, the pain was usually negligible anyways. Besides, the thought of him causing Scott pain, in any way, was too much- that just meant Stiles had to try harder to not get hurt in the first place.

"Derek, can all Weres do that?" Erica asked, leaning forward on the bar to get a better look at Isaac's wrist, even though the marks were gone.

Derek nodded, "Yea, leeching pain is something we can all do, it comes naturally, there isn't anything you have to do. Just, want to help, like Isaac said. Obviously if you touch someone and don't know they are in pain, and aren't thinking about it, you don't pull pain. But if you're in the mindset of wanting to help someone, you'll more than likely pull pain if they are hurt. Only works for physical pain though."

"Way cool," Erica commented, looking down at her own hands. She'd picked up on the fact that Isaac had screwed up his face a bit when the pain hit him but it seemed minimal. It was probably related to the amount of pain the person was in and Isaac hasn't been expecting it. Still though, knowing that she could help others with something like that, it made her truly believe that they weren't monsters. If they were given a gift like that, how could they be monsters?

Stiles let out a heavy sigh, mind wandering to the past few days and thinking about how far set back they were now… this was really lame. If only Meyers hadn't been shot at the facility; surely Stilinski would have granted him a pardon if it meant that Primm would be safer from thugs and bandits. Now they had to go all the way to the Outpost and talk to someone there, beg for a favor- which of course meant they'd have to run a mission first. Get Stilinski his extra troops and then let them take over Primm. Then and only then would that slimy deputy give them information on were Peter had gone. His trail was getting colder and colder and there was nothing Stiles could do about it. He slammed back the rest of the water and said he was going to go for a walk, stuffing his hands into his pockets and just walking out the front door.

"What's eating him all of a sudden?" Erica asked as Isaac made a move to follow him.

Scott reached out a hand and grabbed Isaac's wrist, "He needs some time alone. He's pissed that we're not out on the road. He's more than ready to put Peter in the ground, so am I for that matter. But now we're stuck here, doing absolutely nothing while he heals up- he's blaming himself for it I'm sure. Not that we could have known what was going to happen last night, he's Human and takes longer to heal. If it was just me that got hurt, we could be on the road right now."

"He… he can't blame himself for being Human… It's not like he wants to be a Were, right?" Isaac asked, still looking at the door Stiles had disappeared through.

"No, he doesn't want to be a Were. He doesn't hate Weres, I mean he's stuck by my side all these years, but there are definitely times when him being Human has saved our asses. Maybe when he was younger, he thought about it but now he's happy to be Human. It helps that I know how to control my shifting so I can pass as Human most of the time. My lack of scars gives it away to the more observant folks though." Scott shrugged, he had come to terms with being a Werewolf years ago, thanks to Stiles's friendship but Stiles needed to stay Human. If he became a Were, that just meant he'd be even more reckless and Scott couldn't handle that. As it was he was having flashbacks to when he was on the roof and Cobb was seconds away from shooting him.

"I need some whiskey," Scott mumbled, emptying his glass of water and sliding it towards Melissa. "Please."

Meanwhile Stiles had made his way up to the graveyard and was leaning against one of the fence posts. He knew that Peter wasn't going really far, he'd be staying in Nevada- if only they knew what was so important about the chip he stole, they'd have an idea of what he was planning. He couldn't believe that life was throwing them so many curveballs, like seriously! Wasn't getting shot in the head enough? Surely the fates would take some pity on him and open up the path for them to take. Peter had to pay for everything he'd done to them, including Biting Scott all those years ago. He was still stewing and kicking at rocks when he heard someone shuffle up behind him.

"Scott, I thought you knew better than to come find me," he uttered.

"Not Scott, although he did warn me. I just… felt like you shouldn't be alone- I know what it's like to want to be alone but not alone at the same time."

Stiles turned and looked at him, "What do you mean? I'm hardly ever alone, I'm always with Scott, so sometimes it's nice to just have time to myself."

"Maybe what you need isn't time to yourself, just time away from Scott. I'm not Scott, and I can tell by the way you're sulking that you want someone to talk to."

"And what makes you such an expert?" Stiles shot out and then winced, whispering, "Sorry, that came out harsher than I intended, I'm just frustrated…"

Isaac slowly came up and hopped up onto the post, casually sitting on it, "I know because I used to feel that way all the time. I wasn't loved as a kid… hell, the first time anyone ever said they were proud of me was Derek the other night. I've always felt worthless, a waste of space, and I know if I had one close friend growing up, I might have turned out better."

"You… you aren't a waste of space, I mean look at last night, you saved my life! That Deathclaw could have killed you! And we were complete strangers, yet you still jumped in and protected me. Thank you for that."

Isaac felt his heart speed up and he bit his lip, "Y-you're welcome." He couldn't concentrate with the way Stiles was staring at him, so much gratitude in his eyes. Isaac just wanted to hug him, pick him up and hide him away somewhere safe. But he knew Stiles would never go for that, he was an adventurer- he loved to be where the action was. And he was right, they were virtually strangers, so Stiles would never just leave his brother behind for a broken soul like him.

"Hey, you okay? You look super sad," Stiles asked, making the boy next to him jump.

"Yea, I'm fine, sorry, just got lost in my thoughts." Isaac cleared his throat and slid off the pole. "Anyways I just… if you really do want to be alone, I'll go back to the Saloon, I just thought you wanted some company."

Stiles sighed, "I think you're right… I'm just so used to Scott being right there, and sometimes I can't let him see how much I hurt. I have to protect him you know? I'm the leader of our little duo, I have to be in control."

"You're only Human, Scott knows that. Everyone has a bad day now and then. He doesn't seem like the type to hold it against you," Isaac commented.

"Naw, he wouldn't hold it against me, but he'd crowd around me and try to make it better. When Scott is upset, we cuddle-" Stiles could feel his cheeks heating up at the admission but it was too late to take the words back now. "It helps to ground him you know? The whole 'familiar scent' thing. But I don't have that, I just have a Human nose, but Scott would try and cuddle with me. It's what makes him feel better but it's not what makes me feel better. I don't know what makes me feel better… I just… I can't let him see me upset like this though."

"Well think about it, does having someone here to talk to help?"

Stiles nodded and smiled at his companion, "Yea, it does. I can tell Scott everything, hell I don't even have to say anything and he knows exactly what I'm thinking. But at the same time, I can't just speak my mind, like no filter. He'd take everything I said to heart, even when I'm just venting and don't mean half of what I say."

"You can vent to me," Isaac offered, stepping closer. "I won't know what you mean seriously and what you don't; I won't have much of an opinion on anything you have to say so I'm the perfect listener. At least that way you won't be talking to yourself up here."

"I think… right now, I just need a distraction… I mean I'm so frustrated right now and I can't do anything because of these damn stitches and I-"

Isaac leaned forward and pressed his lips against Stiles's, Isaac could be a distraction. He was willing to be anything to Stiles, even if it was temporary. At least inside his mind he could pretend it was forever, push away the heartache until it came time to go separate ways. He felt Stiles stiffen in surprise and was about to back off when he felt arms snake around his neck and pull him in closer. Isaac blocked Stiles in against the fence, both hands going up on either side of his hips to keep him in place. He groaned when Stiles bit down on his lip, hips pressing forward in need. He could feel his Wolf surge forward, needing to scent Stiles, mark him but Isaac held him back. His teeth weren't completely fanged out like when he was fighting but they weren't blunt like Human teeth either. Isaac didn't want Stiles to freak out and think he couldn't control himself so he let Stiles do all the biting for now.

Stiles of course had been surprised when Isaac kissed him suddenly but when a hot Werewolf kisses you, you kiss back. He completely let go of everything as Isaac pressed into his personal space, welcoming the distraction. As he wrapped his hands around the Were's neck, he curled his fingers into Isaac's hair. He flicked his tongue into Isaac's mouth, cautiously rubbing against the pointed canines. Stiles let out a low whimper as he felt Isaac rub against him, growing hard. A hand gently came up and tilted Stiles's head to the side, Isaac breaking away from the kiss and moving to press his lips against his neck.

"Do you trust me?" Isaac whispered, eyes starting to glow as he took in Stiles's scent.

"Holy fuck, I shouldn't, I don't even know you, but yes, I trust you," Stiles panted, pressing into Isaac even more. He gasped loudly as Isaac opened his mouth wide and slowly bite down on the side of his neck, fangs pressing into his skin without drawing blood. The Human could feel his knees going weak, he felt so vulnerable and alive at the same time. Isaac could kill him right here and he'd be helpless to stop it, but he'd be lying if he said those fangs weren't sending jolts down his spine.

Isaac continued to nibble on his neck very carefully, the rising scent of arousal coming from Stiles pushing him closer to the edge. By the time he pulled away to regain control, Stiles had red marks running up and down the side of his neck. It wasn't actual marking but it was enough to make him rumble with satisfaction. "We should probably take it easy, I don't want to hurt you and I'm still working on control."

"Yea, sure," Stiles mumbled, nodding with eyes glassed over. "I just, one more kiss." He pulled Isaac down easily and kissed him, mouth open and hungry for more. The rumbles Isaac was making let him know that he was enjoying this just as much. Moments later they broke apart again, panting slightly and hair ruffled; Isaac had a huge smirk on his face.

"Was I a good distraction then?"

"Definitely. I'd be very open to doing something like that again. It's um, been awhile for me," Stiles admitted.

Isaac's more Human side was coming back to the front and he colored, "Sorry, for just putting that on you. I didn't even know if you liked guys."

"I only like cute guys," Stiles winked.

Isaac licked his lips and felt himself flush, there was a tingling sensation in his ears again. The way Stiles was looking at him… he'd give anything to keep it.

"Let's get back to the others, I don't want Scott to worry and think I got myself killed by something. I'm sure he's reaching his limit."

"He only let's you have so much alone time?" the Were asked.

"Well, some times. It's more of, Goodsprings is open to the creatures, so if I'm outside alone, I could get overwhelmed. If I was inside somewhere, he'd be more content to let me sulk."

"Oh, so it's a safety thing?" Stiles nodded.

Scott perked up when he heard his brother approaching the Saloon again, surprisingly Isaac was coming in with him. Usually Stiles liked to be alone, but maybe Isaac managed to talk him into coming back where it was safe. The back door opened and Scott immediately picked up on the messed up hair and mixed scents. Next to him, Erica started laughing but Derek quickly cuffed her on the back of her head and gave her a glare. It became obvious to him that they had been expecting something to happen, and they had left him in the dark about it! Scott slid off the stool and walked up to the pair, pulling Stiles behind him quickly.

"What did you do to him?" he growled out, eyes glowing as he got into Isaac's face.

"Dude, Scott, don't," Stiles groaned, pulling on Scott's arm.

Isaac took a step back, surprised at Scott's reaction, but then he growled back, "Is Stiles your Mate or something?" His Wolf bristled and he wasn't going to let anyone push him around anymore, not after how his dad treated him.

Scott unsheathed his claws but Melissa banged her fist down on the bar, "No fighting in my bar! I like the both of you so I don't want to have to kick you out, so calm down."

Derek stepped forward then, easily shifted Isaac behind him, "Stiles is an adult, not your child, he can do whatever he wants."

"Stiles is my Pack! I won't have some stranger getting their scent all over him!" Scott argued before pulling Stiles out the side door.

Stiles barely managed to mouth an 'I'm sorry' to Isaac before he was back out in the sun. "Dude, Scott, it's okay, really," he tried to explain.

"It is not okay! You are my Pack, my family! Now you smell like some outsider!" Scott grumbled, pulling him all the way to Easy Pete's house.

"Hey, you didn't make such a big fuss with that lady we met a few weeks ago," Stiles mentioned.

"She wasn't a Were! Right now you smell more like you're a part of Derek's Pack to anyone with a good nose."

"And before, it just smelled like I'd gotten laid by a nice lady?"

Scott nodded as he pushed Stiles down onto the couch. "Now you just stink."

Stiles couldn't help but laugh and Scott pulled him into a hug, "I'm really sorry, I didn't know it would upset you. I didn't mean for anything to happen, it just kinda did. But just to be clear, you aren't going to kiss me to get rid of his scent are you?"

"No, we're close but we aren't that close! Just, your clothes, and ugh, you're going to need to wash your neck. He was only out there like 10 minutes! How did he scent you so heavily?" Scott griped, rubbing his hands up and down Stiles's shirt.

"I'm sure you really don't want to know Bro," Stiles confessed. Isaac had offered up a good distraction, but now that he had a clear head, it was nice to be with his brother. "Just, easy, my stitches," Stiles reminded him as he was pushed further towards the back of the couch.

"Right, sorry. I just wasn't expected it, I mean, we don't know him… He saved your life and all, I'm grateful! But that doesn't mean he can just have his way with you!"

Stiles held Scott close, "It wasn't like that. Isaac and I were talking and I said that I was frustrated. He offered to be someone that I can vent to-"

"You can vent to me!"

"Not always Scott. I know you'll always be here for me, and I'll be by your side always. But you take all my words to heart when I vent like that. Even when I'm just spouting out nonsense and angry things that I don't mean, you take it all seriously; Isaac offered to just listen."

Scott huffed, "It doesn't smell like he was 'just listening' Stiles."

"That was also my fault… I said that I just needed a distraction, all my pent up rage wasn't doing me any favors and then he kissed me. It… it was nice." Stiles looked down and felt his cheeks grow warm.

"He didn't… hurt you right? I mean the side of your neck is all red."

Stiles shook his head, "No, he asked if it was okay. And he was real slow, making sure he didn't break skin. He stayed in control the whole time, but I think it was hard for him- that was why we came back inside. I doubt… I mean, seriously, Isaac he's hot, and a Were. You think he'd settle for me? He was just trying to help me out, that's all."

"Stiles, come on, you're great, you've gotten compliments from tons of women, and a few men too from time to time."

"Thanks for that Scott, but I mean, look at this monster of a scar man. And now my back? Oh yea, the ladies are just going to throw themselves at me," Stiles laughed. "Especially someone like Isaac? I mean come on, have you seen their Alpha? And Erica, man, she's hot! The whole Pack is, I mean there is only three of them but damn if they aren't all hot! Hell, Boyd is probably going to join them too! Well that's not fair of me to say, he might have an Alpha he's loyal to in that trading company and whatnot but, he'd totally fit in with them. I'm a pity date for him, so I don't feel bad about him saving my ass or something…"

"Okay that doesn't make any sense… I mean, if you were throwing yourself at him, as a way to prove you were worth saving, that would be one thing. But he moved first… he likes you."

"Bull!"

"No, seriously! When we first walked into the bar and Cheyenne barked at us, he got off that stool quicker than shit. He was ready to defend you. And, and, then when you left to get air, he was right behind you. I stopped him but that only lasted a few minutes. Then when you two came back into the bar, Erica was giggling, like she just knew Isaac was going to make a move. Seriously, something is up with him, he likes you," Scott pushed, finally done with his re-scenting of Stiles.

Stiles raised an eyebrow, "You really think he likes me? When we met on the road he was ready to tear me to pieces."

"Well they all were, because we had guns out and found them behind the rocks. They were hiding because they didn't want to catch trouble from travelers. Then of course they were aggressive, Derek was on edge. But remember the facts: Isaac was in a total bloodlust, no Anchor to speak of, first full moon. You remember my full moon?"

"Yea, it was pretty sketchy since you didn't recognize me at first, good thing those bunker doors were solid," Stiles recalled.

Scott nodded, "Exactly! It also probably helped that I was fairly young so I wasn't as strong as I am now. But I was in a total rage until your voice finally got through to me. Now, Isaac was in his instinctive mode, everything should have been screaming at him to run as soon as he saw the Deathclaw. But instead, what did he do?"

"He saved my ass," Stiles sighed, just as confused as his brother. "Even after the Deathclaws were gone, he wouldn't let anyone near me. You really think he likes me?"

"I'm telling you, there is something going on with him, be careful okay? Plus I have no idea what he meant by you being my Mate... That's got me curious."

"What, do you think he's going to try and steal me away? Have me join Derek's Pack?" Stiles joked. "And it's some Wolf thing. I remember one of the Weres we met before mention it in passing. He was probably just wondering why you were so defensive about the scenting."

"What if he asks you to join?"

Stiles pulled Scott into a hug, "You're my Pack. I know it doesn't mean as much coming from a Human but, you're my brother and we'll always be together. He can't take me away from you, even if he legitimately likes me. That being said, if you ever find an Alpha that you like, one that would accept a Human tagging along, feel free to join a Pack."

"Oh please, like I'd ever join up with an Alpha that disliked Humans! I know you don't want the Bite so I'm not going to follow someone that won't accept a Human into their Pack into the first place," Scott assured him. He pulled back from the hug and sighed, "I should apologize to Isaac."

The brothers both got off the couch and went back out into the sun, Stiles nudging his brother, "We can go for a walk. I mean I know I'm supposed to take it easy but I can't sit down, I need to keep my back straight. I don't slouch when I walk. Give Derek some time with the Betas and let Isaac stew a bit."

"Oh, now you want to keep him guessing?" Scott chuckled. "Let's go talk with Sunny, Melissa said she was at the house right?"

Back in the bar, Isaac was grumbling, face down on the counter, "I messed that up epically! I should have realized Scott would be mad, I didn't think about the sense of smell. And I mentioned the Mate thing, ugh, what if Stiles realized what was going on?"

"You've only been a Were for a month, and you've been on your own the entire time, I'm not surprised it didn't dawn on you," Derek soothed. "You'll find out real fast though, scent means a lot to us."

"I doubt Stiles or Scott know what you meant by that," Boyd soothed. He'd only heard of it because one of the female Alphas at the compound mentioned missing her Mate. It was unlikely that those two knew of the significance.

"I've been feeling it,the scent thing, now that I'm part of a pack," Erica admitted, looking down at her hands. Wasn't that what she had been thinking about earlier? She'd had more time to acquaint herself with her Were side, so the minute she heard Derek say she could tag along, she immediately wanted to feel like she belonged with them.

Derek nodded, "That's good, maybe you can explain it to Isaac some more later. I… I'm still having a hard time with figuring out how to explain things to Bit-Weres."

"Yea, we had an Alpha at the trading company, tried to teach us some stuff but he kept speaking in shortcuts and codes which confused all of us. He's still part of the company but now he's out doing trades and stuff instead of working at the compound with the new Betas. I can share a few secrets I've learned in the last few months," Boyd offered.

Isaac looked up at the Weres around the bar, "You'd, help me?"

"Isaac, they are your Pack now, well Boyd is a friendly traveler but, Erica and Derek, isn't that how Packs work?" Melissa asked, setting down a Cola for him.

His Alpha clapped him on the back, "We're here for you Isaac. I promised to do the best I could, and if that means finding some outside help- I'll do it. I don't have that big of an ego to turn away help, especially when they can relate to your experiences better."

"And, if you actually win Stiles over, I'm sure Scott will have lots of advice to give. I mean he's a Beta that achieved full shift control! He was also Bit by this Peter guy so he wasn't a Born-Werewolf either so he figured it all out by himself. He kinda seems like the guy to go to,"

"Great, and I pissed him off, my life is just a waste," Isaac wallowed, face planting into the wood again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Update** Just made a Twitter for myself if any of you out there want to follow me and ask questions about my stories just search for TweakerWolf =D


	13. Good Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the night goes smoothly and Scott talks with Derek about Isaac.

Later that evening, when Scott and Stiles finally reappeared in the Saloon, the bar was a bit fuller now that people were done with their work.

"Let's just get a table," Stiles suggested, finally ready to sit. They had spent a good portion of the day with Deaton, Scott had asked if he could apprentice under him, for at least the next few days. They wouldn't always be able to find a doctor and Stiles needed someone that knew how to patch him up a little better. Which of course meant that Stiles got to lie down on the table as Deaton used him for various hands on experience. It had been informative for him as well though, listening to Deaton explain all of his personal shortcuts and diagnostics tips. So now, just in case Scott wasn't around, Stiles might be able to talk someone through how to patch him up.

As the pair sat down, Stiles looked around for the group of Weres, ready to get to know them better but it seemed like they were gone. "Aww, the hottie Pack isn't here anymore," Stiles pouted.

Scott suddenly started laughing which he managed to turn into a coughing fit- Stiles raised his brow and then flushed. That could really only mean one thing… Said Pack was behind him somewhere, and no doubt they'd heard what he just said.

"I don't know why you're laughing Scott, you know it's true," he continued. Might as well completely own up to his statement; he had no doubt that all of them were perfectly aware of their looks.

Erica was the first one to make a move, since judging by the blush on Isaac's cheek, he didn't know what to say. She sauntered over to their table and leaned down next to Stiles, "So, it's good to know at least one of you has a pair of eyes that works."

Back at the pool table, Isaac felt a low growl start in his throat, he knew Erica was just flirting for fun but his feelings for the Human were hardly under his control. Derek walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, helping him to quiet the Wolf inside. Erica was his Packmate, so he shouldn't be growling at her like that, even if she was flirting with his (unproven) Mate. He knew that she was just messing with them and that it wasn't serious.

"Go chat with them, get to know him better," Derek suggested.

Isaac rolled his eyes, "Please… he's just going to leave as soon as his back is better… And we're probably going to be going in a different direction than them…"

"Well, we don't know that yet. Find out where he's going next. I don't have a set destination here, remember. Maybe we could travel with them for a bit- either way, they are going to be here for at least three days. I'm sure Erica and Boyd won't mind hanging in an actual town for a few days."

"I can't ask them to stay here for me like that. Boyd isn't even our Pack so if he needs to get somewhere, shouldn't we escort him?" Isaac asked.

The dark-skinned Beta laughed as he sunk his ball into the corner pocket. "I'm a traveling merchant, I don't have anywhere to be Isaac. Besides, they have a general store here and I already stopped in and checked Chet's prices. He hates buying things so he has shitty prices and his selling prices are way over what the item is worth. If I'm careful about it, I can probably get some good sales while I'm in town. Occasionally I do have to stop by the compound and give a report, change out my wares and stuff but it's not often."

"Okay, but Erica-"

"Erica is just happy to have a Pack now and be out of Primm, so she won't push to get out of here until you're ready. Plus, I think she's concerned about Stiles not returning your feelings so she'll be more than supportive of you two getting to know each other," Derek cut in.

Knowing that his Alpha wasn't going to let him argue about it anymore; he made his way over to the small table Stiles and Scott were sitting at, "Erica, it's your turn."

"Oh boy!" She easily scampered away from the table, happy to let him have time with the other two.

"Sorry about earlier," Scott commented as soon as the Beta sat down. "I… Stiles is my only Pack, we're family. It was a bit overwhelming when he came inside and smelled like you. I've… I've been a Were for about 6 years now, in complete control for 5 and I've never really felt jealously like that."

"Scotty thinks it's because I've never actually um, got close to a Were like that before. That probably had a lot to do with it," Stiles added on.

"Yea, I honestly didn't even think about that. I've been an Omega until like 3 days ago so I've never really… learned anything. I didn't even know we could control our shifting until I met Derek and even then I thought it was an Alpha only thing at first. Derek told me about it after you guys left. I'm sorry too."

"So, Scott, does that mean if um… well anything were to happen, in the um future, would you freak out again?" Stiles asked, willing his blush to go away.

Scott sighed, "I can't make any promises but… I promise I won't yell at Isaac at least. He is still a stranger to me so it will be weird for me to recognize his scent all over you."

Stiles smiled and carefully reached across the table to pull Scott into a hug while next to him, Isaac's heart was racing. Stiles was open to more... interactions with him? He could feel his Wolf howling with delight at the thought of being close with Stiles; the only issue now was figuring out how exactly to keep the Mate part under control. He needed more information, Derek had mentioned that Stiles was who he needed. How his Wolf had decided that, Isaac had no idea… he knew almost nothing about Stiles so what if they weren't compatible? There was something about him though- too bad his Wolf couldn't just talk to him and explain it.

As Stiles pulled back and leaned against the back of the chair he winced and stiffened. Isaac's hand flew up and lightly gripped the other boy's wrist, leeching pain immediately. Stiles flushed guiltily, forgetting that Isaac didn't know how he felt about that. "You, you don't have to… I'm okay, just a little twinge."

"No, you're in pain, I… I want to help," Isaac insisted, eyes wide and innocent as he held onto Stiles. He had been about to say that he needed to help but managed to remember how creepy that might have sounded. Judging by the look Scott was giving him though, the other Were was suspecting something.

"I'm going to see if I can't get in on the pool game over there, just don't… don't get too carried away," Scott begged, fixing the two across the table with a very pointed stare.

"Both hands above the table Scotty," Stiles promised in a teasing tone.

Satisfied the Were stood up and walked over to talk with Derek; he did want to play pool but, there was something else on his mind as well. "Hey, do you think we can play teams?"

Derek looked up, pausing just before taking his shot, "Sure, let me just finish killing these two at Cut Throat."

Erica huffed, crossing her arms as her remaining ball was knocked into a pocket, "You cheated- used your Alpha powers or something!"

"Nope, just have a lot of practice. Pool is more about finesse than power anyways, knowing about angles is the secret. You'll pick it up fast enough if we stay here for a few days," Derek offered.

As the Alpha finished up the game, Scott carefully singled out their scents from the rest of the room, categorizing them so he could learn more about them. Really he owed a lot to Stiles- he was just a Human but his mind was really sharp. He easily came up with games for Scott when he was more under control. He'd point out random individuals and have Scott single them out and figure out their life story. All lot of it was hard to figure out but eventually he learned how to communicate with his Wolf and separate all the different smells that made up a person. From Derek he got the very powerful smell of Alpha although he also got a lot of 'apprehensive' wrapped around it so he must still feel new about his powers. From Erica he waded through her scent of female and Werewolf to find that she exuded love for her Pack which surprised him. Not because he thought she didn't appreciate her Pack but that she so openly showed it. It was possible that she was like Isaac, still fairly young and didn't know about how to control her scent; still though, given their first encounter, she just seemed like such a badass that he didn't think that would be the first emotion/scent he identified from her. The toughness was still there though, so maybe she was just happy to be spending time with them- Derek had mentioned they were only brought together recently. Lastly he focused on Boyd, wondering about the traveling merchant. He was obviously a Beta, and a pretty strong one, the group he belonged to probably had a few Alphas in charge of a lot of Betas, giving the group strength. Scott couldn't be entirely sure of how many were in his Pack though, he wasn't close enough with them for Boyd's strength to be greatly increased. Still though, with the power Boyd had, if he was ever fighting he'd be a force to be reckoned with.

"Okay, ready to play?" Derek asked, done with re-racking all the balls.

"Yea, how do you want to split teams?" Scott asked. He figured he'd choose Erica, since they were actually Pack. At least Boyd was on good terms with him so it wouldn't be a problem.

Erica was the one that spoke up though, "I wanna partner with my Alpha first round. Then if we play a second game, we can switch it up."

"Sounds good to me," Boyd offered, looking to his potential partner.

Scott nodded, "I'm good with that. Alpha gets first break."

Derek laughed, promising to not put too much strength into it as he leaned over the table. As he lined up the shot, Scott looked over to the table and isolated a very particular scent coming off Isaac. It was the main reason he'd come over here- it wasn't a scent he recognized at all and it bothered him.

"Oh, got in a striped and a solid, Erica, have a preference?" Derek asked as he surveyed the table.

"Stripes, of course," she commented.

Derek nodded, "Alright, we've got stripes then." With that he lined up another shot, easily sinking it.

Scott leaned into Boyd, playfully whispering, "So, basically, any team that Derek is on is the winning team right?"

"Are you trying to say Boyd is going to be a crappy partner?" Derek asked with a raised brow.

"Okay, now you're just trying to pit the two of us against each other, not cool!" Scott groaned.

Boyd just laughed though, nudging his partner with an elbow, "We play a lot of pool at the compound, I might give him a run for his money. But don't think that means you can slack off now."

The first game went by quickly, all four of them trying harder than usual to sink all of their shots. Scott and Boyd ended up winning since Erica scratched and knocked in the 8-ball early. She really wasn't happy about it either, her tail was swishing with agitation, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Next Scott was teamed up with Derek and he figured this was would be the best time to bring it up, just in case they didn't stay for a third game.

"Hey, um Derek… can I ask a question?"

"Can't promise an answer, but you can ask."

With a quick over his shoulder to make sure Stiles and Isaac were pretty focused on each other, Scott turned back to the Alpha. "What's going on with Isaac? He smells different… and I mean… it's not like I can overlook his sudden interest in my Packmate."

Derek paused in his helping Erica line up a shot, looking at Scott carefully. "What do you mean he smells different?" Derek had hoped that Scott hadn't picked up on the seriousness of Isaac's affections but it looked like the Beta was a bit sharper than at first glance.

"I'm good at recognizing scents, I've been doing it for a little over 5 years now, I know almost every emotion, species, rank, and strength. I can pick up on Pack smells and even get a rather good approximation of how many are in a Pack. But there is one scent coming off of Isaac that I can't place- it's strong too, like it's one of the key parts of his essence. What is it?"

As one, the other three Weres in the room turned to Isaac and sniffed; Derek of course knew what the scent was and surely Erica and Boyd could deduce what it was since they knew the secret. He hadn't expected Scott to notice, or care, most Betas wouldn't take the time to classify a random Pack. But Scott had been through a lot so maybe it wasn't so weird, but it made him curious to know what he'd gotten off the rest of them.

"No way, that makes a scent? Like… it changes the way you smell?" Erica whispered.

Boyd's eyes widened as he caught the scent, matching it to the one from his coworker. He'd never tried to place the scent before, figuring it was just a part of her essence that would remain a mystery.

"Yes, it raises a unique scent in those that find their Mate, one that stays dormant until awoken. It only makes sense since Isaac's wolf is now… complete? That doesn't feel like the right word… not everyone has a Mate. His wolf is… replete I think is a better choice. It's a very strong emotionally feeling for a Wolf that feels whole, once they've awakened that feeling, it's only natural that one's essence changes. And like I stated to my Betas earlier, not everyone just sees someone and falls in love, sometimes it takes awhile. So on the other hand, it's also plausible that someone never feels like they need that other person to feel replete. Those that don't have Mates, don't go through the scent change though, since nothing in their life has changed for them. You might not realize that you are fine on your own, but your Wolf realizes what you need. So if you don't need a special someone like that, it won't affect your essence."

Scott leaned against the table and narrowed his eyes, "Well what exactly does this mean for Stiles? We don't even know Isaac! No offense to him but, I'm not going to let him just take Stiles away from me or anything like that."

Derek quickly shook his head, "Isaac doesn't want that. He doesn't even know how to feel about it, he's as surprised as the rest of us. I told him to just take his time and get to know Stiles, get to understand his feelings. He… he doesn't even want Stiles to know, he feels like it would be too much pressure or something… I probably wasn't supposed to tell you."

"I think it will be fine, if Scott knows… maybe he won't get mad at Isaac when he catches them doing that," Erica commented with a cheeky smirk on her face.

All of them looked over at the pair, Scott groaning and running a hand down his face. It was no wonder that Isaac had really commented on their conversation- he was way too interested in Stiles. The two of them were making out, Stiles still in his seat and pushed up against the wall.

"Dude, stitches!" Scott called out, knowing that Isaac had probably taken too much pain.

Immediately the two of them broke apart, red in the face and looking embarrassed; Stiles carefully stretched and tested his back while Isaac lightly ran his hand over the back of his shirt, feeling for a torn stitch.

"I don't smell any blood, I think he's okay," Boyd commented before taking his turn.

Scott looked over the pair, unsure of how to feel about the whole thing, but at least know he knew that Isaac wasn't planning on stringing Stiles along. He'd dealt with a heartbroken Stiles before and it wasn't easy. Since then Stiles hadn't really gotten that close with anyone, but Scott could tell that this Werewolf had broken through those walls easily. This wasn't really a complication that the boys needed though, if Stiles found out, how would he react? A few different scenarios ran through Scott's head and he really wasn't sure which one was the least troublesome. Most likely, Stiles would suggest the two groups tagging along with each other, but in the end Stiles would be even more distracted, having another person whose life he was concerned with. If Isaac was ever in trouble… Stiles would be right there, putting his life on the line… Scott sighed, no use thinking about what-ifs, Isaac would tell Stiles in time or he wouldn't. His only concern was Stiles, first and foremost but did that give Scott the place to tell the truth? Ugh, complications!

*Later, Melissa's House*

Isaac sat on the edge of the bed to take off his shoes, feeling a lot better about everything; Stiles actually seemed to want to get to know him a bit! Sure, they had spent some time making out… but Isaac was semi certain that Stiles wasn't just in it for that. Just from the bit of his past that they'd talked about, Stiles didn't really seem the type for one-night-standish relationships. Not that Isaac thought they were dating or anything!

"Hey, you okay? Your heart just skyrocketed," Erica asked as she crawled under the blankets. Her own heart was speeding up a bit, was Isaac feeling nervous about sleeping next to her? Erica was mostly anxious herself, her inner Wolf was wanting to cuddle and even drag Derek in here as well, but her Human side knew that it might be a little weird if she pushed too hard. 'Just go with the flow' she reminded herself.

Isaac jumped as her words interrupted his thoughts, "Oh no, sorry… I'm fine just, I was thinking about something. My mind got away from me a bit is all."

Erica started to smirk, a dirty comment running through her mind but when she caught a whiff of Isaac's scent, she realized he was feeling more giddy than aroused so she kept it to herself. He obviously wasn't thinking about Stiles in that way right now, and since they were going to be sleeping right next to each other, she wasn't going to be the one to make it awkward. Instead she decided that she'd bring up something that was neutral ground for them both. "Do you feel better now that you have a full moon under your belt?"

"Ugh, not much better… I almost killed someone, I totally could have killed someone, or at least gotten myself shot. I made you and Derek worry… Stiles and Scott almost got killed because of me too. But well I mean, I survived, and now that I know exactly how it feels, I might not be as scared next month?"

"Yea, we'll all be stronger, we'll have each other to ground us; I mean as it is we barely know each other," Erica admitted, turning onto her side so she could face Isaac. "But hey, you got a Mate out of the whole thing, right?"

Isaac laughed, looking over at her, "Seems like a rather desperate way to get a Mate, the almost dying and all. I don't recommend it take the slow route if you can."

"I'm content with getting to know my Pack first, Mates can come later," Erica assured him. With that, she reached over and patted Isaac's shoulder, "Stiles seems like he's warming up to you just fine though."

The Beta smiled and rolled over onto his stomach and elbows, big grin lighting up his face. Maybe it would be nice to have a Packmate to talk to about it. "We talked a lot about all sorts of things at the bar. Nothing like super personal but, it was real easy to talk to him it was nice, I haven't had something like that before… Back in the gang… everyone just ignored me because I wasn't the strongest. I was a good thief, not the best though… so of course I wasn't sent on the important missions."

"Well you have me too," Erica promised.

"Get some sleep you two, or else you'll just be up all night jabbering," Derek called out from the couch.

"You're no fun," Erica mumbled.

"We can talk more in the morning, it's okay," her Packmate promised.

She watched him resituate himself on his side, facing away from her as he snuggled into the covers. As his breaths started to deepen, Erica reached out, hand softly rubbing his back; a pleased smile came to her face as Isaac sighed happily. "We're Pack now, I'm here for you," she whispered.

"We can snuggle?" Isaac whispered quietly, reaching back to tug on her hand softly. As he started to fall asleep and relax, he felt his walls crumble, just a bit. It was helped along with the way he could feel his inner Wolf reaction, pleased with Erica's closeness, now that they were Pack. He couldn't hold back the smile as she scooted closer to him, arm snaking around his middle.

Erica had to bite her lip to stop from squealing as Isaac mentioned getting closer- maybe his walls weren't so bad after all. Or at least tonight they weren't…. She didn't hesitate, scooting closer to him, wrapping her arm around his stomach. "Thanks," she whispered. She rubbed her nose along his shoulder a bit, breathing in his scent.

Out on the couch, Derek finally cracked a rare smile, as he listened to his two Betas fall into an easy sleep. From what he'd heard from Isaac, it seemed unlikely he'd let them in, but Erica wasn't one to be denied either. He was proud of her for not pushing, it had been so easy to tell that she wanted to mark herself as Pack- the chance had been taken from her on the full moon. Thankfully Isaac seemed to be softening, listening to his Wolf more, which was a great sign. Now all he had to figure out was how to lead them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isaac can still be considered a baby wolf so he doesn't have any experience in listening to his inner instincts and knowing what his Wolf is trying to tell him. I wanted to put that in there because I do plan on showing a lot of character growth for him as he learns how to be a Were in this world =D
> 
> Cut Throat: just a quick run down for those that don't know- pool game played with three players, all 15 balls are used and divided up. Player 1 is responsible for 1-5, P2: 6-10, P3: 11-15. One way (most popular) is to play where the object is to sink your opponents balls while doing your best to keep your 5 on the table. The way I first learned was the opposite, the goal is to get your 5 balls in first before the other two sink their five. This way (I personally think) leads to less of a 'ganging up' of two players focusing on one player.


	14. Boyd's Alpha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The groups spend some time in Goodsprings but things don't stay quiet for long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no post! I'm finally getting back into the swing of this story. I've been wanting to write but I've started streaming and that means I haven't had enough free time to sit down and play Fallout. So in lieu of actually playing, I started writing this scene, just more of the groups in Goodsprings, adding backstory for the characters a bit. They do finally move on though, heading to the Mohave Outpost for those of you that have played the game. Hopefully we'll get moving along the storyline finally hahaha. I know it's been slow going, I mean really... this is only like the opening of them game- we have a long ways to go! XD Hope you like the chapter, sorry to keep you all waiting!

*Morning*

Scott shifted, his back unhappy with the ruined mattress he'd slept on last night; he hoped that Stiles's half of the old springy thing was more comfortable. Poor guy already had enough trouble as it was, didn't need to be worrying about springs cutting into him.

"Dude, I think we're going to have to kick Hottie Pack out of Melissa and Sunny's house. I'm crippled and deserve to have a softer mattress to sleep on. How does Pete do it?"

"Oh, you're awake? Pete probably took the best mattress, duh. It's what you would do if we had a house and had guests come over," Scott laughed as his body healed from the aches and pains.

Stiles wordlessly reached over and slid his fingers between Scott's, knowing that his brother would know what to do. Sleeping on his stomach was killing him; he was definitely a side sleeper, sprawling across the bed on his back occasionally but never on his stomach. He was not going to get a lot of good sleep on his stomach, and he had a few weeks until he healed? Life was going to be shit these next few days… He sighed in relief as Scott started leeching just a bit of his pain, most of it the aches from sleeping uncomfortably. "Thanks Bro."

Scott nodded, "Ready to start the day?"

"Yea just… before the shirt goes back on, check my bandages? Deaton wants to make sure the stitches are still clean and stuff."

"Oh yea, right. Let me just," Scott sat up quickly and glanced down at his hands, hoping they were clean enough. Carefully he pulled back on the bandages, nostrils flaring to ensure that he didn't smell any sickness. "All healthy, didn't bleed that much, all the stitches are still there too. Deaton is really good with the stitches; these should only leave a faint scar."

Stiles nodded in relief as Scott covered them back up, "Deaton is a superb doc, I mean, he brought be back from the verge of death! And yea, I have this huge scar on the side of my face but like… how many people do you know that even survived a shot like that?"

"You know, I've been thinking, maybe I should hang out with Deaton more, while we're here; I think he can teach me a lot. With the journey we're planning on going on, we'll need all the knowledge we can get."

"I agree, I think that's a good idea. Deaton did say that you were a quick learner. But then what am I supposed to do all day?" Stiles asked.

Scott shrugged, "I don't know… rest, you need lots of rest."

"You know I don't 'rest' Scotty."

"Yea, but… at least stay out of the sun and don't do anything taxing okay?" Scott mentioned, already getting up and grabbing one of his few shirts to put on.

Stiles sighed to himself as he pushed off of the mattress and sat up, digging out some breakfast from his pack. "Maybe I'll clean the guns, I know they need it."

*Melissa's House*

Erica hummed happily as she woke up, Isaac's scent still around her; she squeezed his torso lightly as she rubbed her nose on his chest. "Thanks for cuddling with me last night," she whispered. Suddenly she felt Isaac rubbing his cheek against the top of her head, a smile forming instantly.

"Thanks for making me feel welcome. It was one thing to have Derek say he was proud of me the other night, but now… Now I have a second Packmate that I know accepts me," Isaac whispered. He hadn't even realized that at some point during the night, they'd shifted so Erica was curled up to his chest and his arms were wrapped tightly around her. It was almost as if he could feel his Wolf snuggling up to hers, this extra closeness was forming between them- something he'd never experienced before. Already Isaac could feel that he was becoming one with his Wolf half, learning what made him happy and content. Sleeping with Pack nearby was definitely something happy.

"You two ready to start the day? I figure if we start now, we can rest during the hottest part of the day. Might as well train you while we have some down time," Derek suddenly interrupted, appearing in the doorway.

Erica huffed, "I'm not moving until we have full Pack cuddles, get over here Alpha."

Derek blinked in surprise but found that his Wolf was tentatively reaching out to them, something he hadn't done since the fire. They were his Pack, he was the Alpha now, and they were feeling the pull to bond with each other. He heaved a sigh, a small scowl on his face as he walked over to the bed- he may be feeling the pull, but that didn't mean he was truly ready for intense cuddles just yet. Thankfully both of his Betas picked up on his reluctance but also his acceptance as they sat up to wrap their arms around him. Derek dutifully rubbed his cheek along Isaac's head, hand clasping his shoulder; then he turned to Eric and ran his fingers through her hair while pressing his forehead against hers. He flashed back to his little sister Cora and how she'd always beg to have him play with her hair; his heart twinged and he sat up straighter. Of course Isaac and Erica both noticed, each letting out a small whimper, wondering if they'd done wrong. "Ready to practice?" Derek asked, switching topics. They were his Betas, they _chose_ him as their Alpha, he'd be strong for them. But right now, the cuddling brought back memories, memories he wasn't ready to face… minimal contact would have to do for now.

Luckily both Betas seemed content with what they got, recognizing that something was holding the Alpha back. They knew better than to push, to challenge him.

"What are we going to learn?" Erica asked, full of excitement as she bounced out of the bed to get her boots on. Already she could feel her ears tingling at the thought of training and running around. Then she paused, "Derek… how come my ears are tingling?"

"Tingling how?"

"I don't know how to describe it I just… I got all excited for training and stuff and my ears are tingling. Those two things aren't related, it doesn't make sense…"

Isaac perked up, recalling some of what the Alpha had told him, "Maybe it has something to do with controlling your phases! Maybe her ears are connected with excitement?"

Erica brightened at the news but then thought for a moment, "No… it isn't excitement. I was excited last night when we got to cuddle and I didn't feel any tingling. But I do think whatever it is has to do with my phases, I just don't know what it is…"

Derek smiled, "Well, keep it in the back of your mind, recall any other time, or times in the future, that you feel this particular sensation. That will help to pinpoint the exact feeling that's connected to it."

"Wait, now that you've said something, I've felt tingling like that before too! I… I can't remember exactly when but yea, I've had that too!" Isaac concentrated, trying to recall the last time he felt any sort of tingling like that. He remembered his ears doing that when they first arrived back in Goodsprings but couldn't remember why. It would have to wait until after training though, Erica and Derek were ready to go and he wasn't missing out on any training!

*Later*

"Alright, last one," Stiles said, wiping the handgun down with an old rag. He carefully put away their bottle of gun oil- it had cost a fortune but was well worth it. All three of their guns were laid out on the floor in pieces; Stiles sighed heavily, missing his rifle. After he packed away all the supplies, he reassembled the weapons, debating what to do next. The door creaked open and Isaac popped his head into the living room of the house.

"Hey, can I come in?"

"Yea, it's just me in here," Stiles told him, grimacing as he stood up. "Shouldn't have sat for so long, my back isn't happy with me."

Isaac frowned, "Guess that means you probably don't want to go for a walk?"

"Eh, standing isn't really that bad, and laying down is fine too, just the sitting."

"We can lie down if you want? I mean, it would really be the same thing. Walking and talking or just lying down and talking. It is getting warm out so we can stay in… if you even want to spend some time together," Isaac realized. He had totally anticipated that Stiles would be willing to go for a walk and was assuming the substitution would be fine.

"Actually that sounds pretty good. Scott would get mad if I went out for a walk right now- he told me to stay out of the heat," Stiles answered with a shrug. Isaac was good company so he might as well take it while it was offered. "No naughty stuff though, since this is someone's borrowed bed, I'd feel totally awkward."

Isaac laughed and stepped further into the house, "I agree, I'd totally feel the same way."

The two of them went over to the lumpy mattress, Isaac helping Stiles to lie down. As he flopped down next to him he offered his hand, "I know Scott doesn't want me to do it often but… if it helps I can take some of your discomfort away?"

Stiles shook his head, "Not yet, if I'm lying down like this it might make me sleepy and then we wouldn't really be able to talk. Although I'm totally down to take a nap too if you are."

"Yea, actually that sounds pretty good, Derek ran us pretty ragged."

"Oh, tell me about it? You can lull me to sleep," Stiles asked, shyly reaching out to take Isaac's hand. If they were planning on napping, might as well let him ease the pain. Maybe he'd rest even better that way, since he was being forced to sleep on his stomach.

The Beta smiled and curled his fingers around Stiles's hand, telling him about the various workouts Derek had run them through. Stiles had managed a few comments here and there but was mostly content to listen; it wasn't long at all before he was asleep. Isaac lay there, looking at the other boy's features, happy. He waited a bit to make sure Stiles was surely asleep and scooted closer, arm carefully draping over the other boy. Snuffling into Stiles neck, Isaac felt comforted, falling asleep easily.

When Scott entered a few hours later, both of them were still asleep, although his presence had roused Isaac a bit. "Just me," he assured the half awake Wolf. He had heard all the growling, even from Deaton's house and knew that Isaac was probably exhausted. Maybe he should ask if he could join in on that, it would be good to get some training in with other Weres; Stiles did the best he could but it wasn't the same. Thankfully Stiles was still on his stomach, face pressed against the dirty pillow; he'd probably have to check the bandages soon to make sure Stiles hadn't over done it when he was cleaning the guns earlier. Scott softly put his bag down on the floor and moved Isaac's arm out of the way.

"What're doin'?" Isaac mumbled, only opening one eye to look at Scott. It was weird remembering that a few days ago his Wolf bristled at Scott being so close, at him coming between him and Stiles. But he was more relaxed now, knowing that Scott wasn't a threat, nor did he treat Isaac as one. His Wolf was a little more understanding now since the full moon had passed.

"Shh, don't wake him. I just want to check his stitches, he should sleep through it if you don't talk so loud," Scott explained. Already he had lifted up the sleeping boy's shirt, the bandages on his back exposed.

Isaac frowned, "Will it really take him weeks to heal?" He'd been Human not that long ago but the worst he'd ever had to heal from was the burns from his father's cigarettes, never deep gashes that required stitches. Even the few knife fights he'd gotten in had left shallow marks compared to those he was looking at.

"Stiles heals pretty fast but he is still only Human, so he is limited. He stays as healthy as he can, which is an incredible feat out here, and it's like he can speed up his metabolism without the use of drugs. It's pretty amazing but it makes him rather reckless, and he ends up like this, scaring the crap out of me. I'm glad you were there to help out, help me to protect him."

"But I was reason why he got hurt in the first place, you two came across me and I wasn't under control. If you hadn't pulled me away from Sloan, I may have killed someone, and in the end I put all of us in danger as well," Isaac murmured, looking away.

Scott shrugged, "And we all survived, we knew the risk of facing you in that state. Even knowing the outcome, Stiles will do it again, and so would I. No use worrying about it now that it's in the past, we don't harbor any negative feelings over it. But his stitches are fine, he didn't tear any of them earlier." After a moment of quiet, Scott decided he might as well ask, "Hey do you think I could join in on your training later? I haven't really come across other Weres that I felt comfortable enough around to let go. It's been awhile since I've let go of my phases, almost forgot what my ears feel like. Almost."

"I'm sure Derek would be happy to have you join us, we've um, been meaning to ask you about how you control them. Since you are a Bitten-Wolf, like us; Derek says it's different so he might not be the best to explain it."

"I'll be happy to share my experiences with you, since you guys would be helping me out it would only be polite to return the favor. I might only be able to join you in the evening since I'm also tutoring under Deaton."

Isaac laughed, "So you can be better able to patch him up?" Scott nodded and laughed as well; Isaac was relieved though, this meant his Mate was in good hands. He blushed, still not sure what that really meant, especially since Stiles and Scott weren't a part of Derek's Pack, they'd eventually have to split up. He'd think about that later though, Derek said to just see how things progress.

"Yea, Stiles needs all the help he can get, he ends up in a lot of tight spots. Scoot over, I want to take a nap; I may not have trained earlier but the heat takes a lot out of us anyways."

"Fair enough… but I can stay?"

Scott rolled his eyes good-naturedly, "I'll even let you be next to him, since I doubt either of us should move him to the middle of the mattress. So scoot."

Isaac happily moved closer to Stiles, once again wrapping an arm around his back to make room for the other Were. As soon as there was room, Scott dropped onto the mattress and stretched out. He'd probably only be down for a few hours but Stiles could sleep all day if he was left alone; hell he probably needed it. It would be good to sleep a few hours and then eat a late lunch though, and get to know the Pack better.

*Melissa's House*

Derek sat on the couch, Erica next to him, leaning on his shoulder. They were both tired but he could feel the contentedness coming from her. It had been a really tough morning and everyone but Boyd had been pretty worn out; it had been awhile since Derek really let go and let loose. Isaac was the first to get tired, since he'd had just a hard time with his healing, his body was only now really catching up on fuel to replenish itself. But Erica and Boyd had plenty of energy to spare and just kept coming at him. Of course he wasn't super rough on them, using more of his energy on his speed to dodge them, make them work even harder to try and hit him. Maybe tomorrow he'd work on their pain limits, have them learn what it's like to take a hit and not let it distract you. Pain couldn't distract you, not until you won the fight.

"Will we ever be as fast as you?" Erica asked.

"No, not really. Since we're a Pack, we gain strength from each other though and my strength aids yours. But since I'm an Alpha, I will have more strength than you."

Erica pouted, "Then what's the point of using that speed if we're never going to be able to catch you?"

"Oh, that's not even my full speed," Derek laughed. "I'm only using enough to push you to your limits. I'm not used to teaching with training wheels- I'm jump starting your system. I'm forcing your body to learn how to move faster if you ever want to catch me. But, you will, once you learn how to move like me. Besides, just because you can't catch someone doesn't mean you should forego training. If you're up against an enemy that you can't catch, when will you be able to hurt them?"

"I don't… if we can't catch them then… never."

"Let me rephrase, if the enemy is indeed running from you, you'll never catch up to them, true. But if they are stronger than you, are they going to be running away?"

Erica shook her head.

Derek restated his question, "So when will you be able to catch them?"

She thought back, trying to understand. Derek had been really fast, she could see him but never move her body fast enough to keep up. Over and over he'd knocked into her shoulder, hip, twice even tagging her in the back of the head with a light laugh. Her arms wouldn't move fast enough! Erica sat up when she remembered that she'd _almost_ had him once- when he'd leapt over her. She'd known he was going for her left shoulder, he'd done it before; there was a split second when she had thought about trying to grab him but she knew from all her other tries it was useless. Instead she dodged away, the first and only time she'd manage to dodge him all day.

"We catch them when they come for us, when we know they'll hit us."

"Yes, exactly," the Alpha praised. "I saw the realization hit you when you dodged me. Obviously it would still be just about impossible for you after just a few hours, your body doesn't know how to use its own speed but… the point is what matters. The better you get at training, the better you'll be at dodging. Soon enough you'll actually be able to catch me instead of just dodge. After that, you get better at reading your opponents moves, so even if you can't catch them, you can anticipate and react. I want to get you to that point, Isaac too. I won't lie to you, you will be up against opponents that are stronger than you. You can't let them defeat you with intimidation, never go down without a fight."

Erica nodded, "I'll train hard, I won't let you down! Isaac won't either, I know he wants to prove his worth. We both do."

Derek smiled and put his hand on top of her head, "Don't worry about letting me down, that isn't the kind of Alpha I want to be. I just want to make sure you all protect yourselves, I don't want to see anything happen to you."

She beamed and hugged him, unable to stop herself.

The Alpha tensed for just a moment but then hugged her back, feeling closer with his two Betas after a hard morning of training.

*Later*

Scott rolled over and slid off the mattress, waking up as his face rolled onto the floor. "I guess three to a mattress is too many. Good thing the bed wasn't on a frame or anything," he mumbled to himself as he stood up.

"Did I push you off?" Isaac asked, half awake.

"No, just rolled off. But what do you say we go get a late lunch and then meet up with the rest of your Pack? Stiles should be okay to keep sleeping, he needs it. And he has food in the bags if he gets hungry. I'll just leave him a note on his Pip-Boy." Scott knelt by his brother and typed in a quick note for Stiles, telling him to follow the growls since they'd be training.

"Are you sure it's okay to leave him here?"

Scott smiled, "Yea, I promise. If he gets hungry, he'll just eat… hell, I've seen him eat in his sleep a few times. Well, it was more of, he registered that he was hungry before the rest of him was even fully awake. I think he finished eating before his eyes actually opened. So if his body gets hungry enough, he'll wake up. And if not, then all the sleep will do him good- if he's just lying there, I know he isn't getting into trouble."

"I…yea that's a good point. Hard to rip your stitches when you're just lying on your stomach, asleep. Derek and Erica are probably at Sunny's or the Saloon if they aren't asleep still."

"Well, the Saloon is right across the way, let's just check there first." The two of them took the few steps across the road and were at the Saloon. Just as Scott reached up to open the door he paused.

"You okay?"

"Derek is here, but he's pissed…"

Isaac pushed his way past Scott and opened the door, "What do you mean pissed? Why? How do you know that?"

"I can feel it, his Alpha aura," Scott mumbled, still in awe over the feelings that were coming to him. Derek wasn't even his Alpha and he could pick up on his feelings… how had Isaac missed it?

"His what? I… Derek?" he called out, not even bothering to let his confusion slow him down. He'd find Derek first and worry about anything else later.

"Isaac, stay back…" Erica whispered, grabbing Isaac as soon as he came into the bar; she'd been standing right by the door, instructed by Derek to be ready to leave if things got ugly.

"I think it would be in your best interest to just leave here," Scott heard Melissa snap out in a dangerous tone. But she wasn't talking to Derek, she was talking to someone else. There was a huge man that was in Derek's face, both of them growling and snarling at each other. Isaac immediately shrank back, not used to seeing his Alpha like this; Erica held onto Isaac, although she looked torn. Derek had told her to leave if it got ugly, and to watch out for Isaac since he was so young at this, but she couldn't just abandon her Alpha if he got into a fight- that wasn't the type of Packmate she wanted to be!

Scott stepped forward, "What's the problem here?"

"He's trying to steal my Beta!"

"And I told you, Boyd was just traveling with us, we were helping him out since he ran into trouble on the road with some Humans. I don't appreciate being accused of thieving!" Derek roared back. Boyd had told them all about his trading company, how they had a few different Alphas set up so no one had to worry about traveling as an Omega. Now Boyd was standing back in the corner, looking shocked and upset. They'd never even mentioned anything about Pack with him, just that maybe they could travel together for awhile, keep him company. Then, out of the blue, this angry asshole is accusing Derek of shit he's never done. The Hales were an honorable family- they'd never steal anyone! "The minute I heard Boyd was in a Pack, I felt relieved, knowing that he wasn't out on his own, an Omega. I had no reason to try and take him from you- he's a trader! I'm just trying to find a place to settle down!"

"Then how come you have two fresh Betas following you around, hmmmm? Looks to me like you're trying to strengthen your numbers and Boyd is a good candidate-"

"Vernon, it isn't like that at all," Boyd cut in, only to be snarled at.

"Excuse me sir, I think you're being very unprofessional here- you're supposed to be running a business and now you're terrifying the patrons of this establishment and-" Scott was suddenly cut off as the angry Alpha made a swipe at him. But Scott was fast enough to at least dodge, smart enough to not attack back in reflex. But to Derek, that was crossing the line and he lunged, shoving the taller Alpha back, getting between him and Scott.

"Do. Not. Attack. Innocents!" he snarled, face shifting as he felt his rage taking over.

"Stop! I'll go with you, stop, this is unnecessary. I only stopped here because Callie needed to rest, it's fine Vernon," Boyd called out.

Erica whimpered, Boyd was going to leave? Go with this crazy Alpha? Why? It wasn't right! Clearly he was in danger, if he thought Boyd was trying to leave him… he might hurt him as punishment…

"Let's go!" The Alpha pushed Boyd out the side door and left.

Stiles was standing at the open door, beside Erica and Isaac, eyes wide, "What… what did I miss? I heard the growling and I was worried maybe Scott…"

"That was Boyd's Alpha apparently, he thought we were trying to steal him or something… I don't even know why he's here though, Boyd said they were left to just travel on their own," Erica explained, hugging Isaac, both to comfort him, and to comfort herself.

"No, Scott, we can't let him go with that asshole! He's going to beat him if he thinks Boyd tried to leave. He shouldn't even be a part of the company if that's how he acts around his Betas!"

"Yea, I don't like it either," Scott said, moving to head out the side door.

Melissa stared at him, "You can't be going after him Scott- that's an Alpha, he'll kill you!"

"He won't be going alone. Boyd doesn't want to be with him, I could see it in his eyes, he's being intimidated. I won't stand for that," Derek informed her before waving his Betas to him. But before he could open his mouth to say anything Erica cut him off.

"We're going with you! We want to safe Boyd too!"

"Yea!" Isaac agreed. Honestly he was scared shitless but if Scott was going, Stiles would be going… and he wasn't about to let his Packmates down either. Of course Derek was going to do the right thing and honestly, Boyd seemed very nice, it wouldn't be right of them to just leave him to his fate. If Isaac died well… at least he died as a part of a Pack- he'd survived his first moon and had even found his Mate! He'd go down fighting.

"Stiles st-"

"Scotty, bro, seriously? I'm not stupid enough to just take on an Alpha, especially since I'm injured, but no way in hell am I staying here!

"I was going to say, 'stay behind me' since we don't know just how many might be with him. If it's just him it shouldn't be so bad but you're the only Human and if he's threatened, he might focus on you."

"Oh, okay yea, I can totally do that."

Derek slammed the door open and saw that the two (and Callie) were heading out of town at a quick pace. "No time to talk, although let's wait until he's outside city limits, so we can reduce casualties."

"What's the game plan? I mean… we trained today, but Isaac and I are still really new to this, fighting isn't…"

"I'm going to try and make sure neither of you have to fight, if he hits you, I don't want to lose you. Just, lend me your strength and I can win this."

"I'm going to help you," Scott assured him, pushing his way out into the heat, eyes locked on the departing Alpha. "Do Isaac and Erica know how to lend strength?"

"No, we never covered that, we just went over some basic maneuvers, tried to awaken their abilities," Derek sighed.

Stiles smiled as the group of them slowly stalked the departing duo, more than ready to explain. "It's really simple, I promise, well… you have to establish a Pack bond, I'm not sure if you've done that yet. With me and Scott it's really hard since I'm not a Were but I mean if I can do it, then you can too! You just have to feel the relationship you have with a Packmate, doesn't even have to be an Alpha, you like… feel this physical tie to them and you just fortify it with your strength. It will help Derek, his inner Wolf and he can kick that other Alpha's butt."

"Speaking of that, Stiles, you need to keep your strength up, I won't be fighting alone so I shouldn't need any extra strength," Scott stated.

Derek had to glance at the two of them, Humans shouldn't be able to learn how to use a Pack bond… Sure, Scott would feel the Pack bond with Stiles, his Wolf would feel those strong feelings but for a Human to be able to figure that out? How?

"Hey, come on, they're moving faster, go, go," Stiles said, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep up.

"I'll stay back with him, watch over him. That will give me time to figure out this strength thing. Erica, you go with them, you're a lot stronger than me, you caught onto the lessons a lot faster."

"Right!"

The three of them jogged towards Boyd and his Alpha, Isaac draping an arm around Stiles's back to help him move a little faster. As they walked, Isaac concentrated on feeling his bond with Derek; like Stiles had said, it wasn't really that hard. Isaac knew he'd attached to his Alpha pretty fast, and with the training they'd done today he felt even closer. Then all Isaac had to do was send Derek some strength.

"Figure it out?" Stiles asked, not really comfortable with silences in tense situations. It wasn't until after he asked that he realized he probably broke Isaac's concentration.

"Yea actually, you were right, it wasn't hard at all. I can totally feel that it's working. Derek… They can do this right? I mean we don't know how strong that guy is… Boyd said that they have a few different Alphas for everyone to Pack under, I'm not sure how many Betas are in a Pack but obviously he has to have a few others," Isaac whimpered, afraid.

"Naw, Scott won't let a guy like that win- his sense of morality forbids it. I mean, the guy that shot me in the head? That was Scott's Alpha, as in the Were that turned him. Peter was trying to coerce Scott into obedience and Scott was having none of it, didn't even flinch. And Derek has you and Erica backing him. He's totally a strong Alpha, Scotty and I discussed it the other night; Scott is good at sensing other Were's strength and stuff."

Derek, Scott, and Erica ran after the Alpha, not bothering with stealth anymore since the Alpha had turned and seen them coming. Boyd had stopped in his tracks, realizing that they were coming after him… they wanted to help him. So he wasn't going to make it easy on his Alpha anymore. He pulled Callie away, looking around and making sure there weren't any vulnerable people nearby.

"Boy, get back here!"

"No! I'm done with all of this! I'm going straight to the company and complaining about you!"

The Alpha snarled but Derek leapt between him and Boyd, Beta shifted and roaring. They squared off, Derek making sure all of the Alpha's attention was on him; he didn't seem to have a large amount of strength right now and Derek was going to use that to his advantage. Erica knew she was only supposed to keep him blocked in, stay as a barrier between him and Boyd if the Alpha got too aggressive. Scott was his backup since he was way more experienced. As Derek stepped forward and the Alpha went to attack, Scott came out of nowhere and latched onto the Alpha's back, sinking his claws into his back. He only stayed for a moment though, knowing that if the Alpha got a hold of him, he'd be in trouble- Scott was only supposed to be the distraction. But it worked, the Alpha roared and reached up to grab at Scott just as he leapt away, claws scratching at the open air. Derek jumped into the air, sending a roundhouse kick straight into his chest.

"Beta, help me!" he yelled, charging at Derek, trying to get a hold of him. But the younger Alpha was too fast, easily dodging his heavy blows. He couldn't let this young Alpha win! He was better than this!

Derek snarled and weaved under the heavy arms, smirking to himself. This Alpha was all about power- but a powerful punch meant nothing if it couldn't connect. All he was doing was wasting his energy even faster. Plus it was two against one, well two and a half if you counted Erica taking jabs at him while his back was turned. It was enough to keep him on his toes and angry, his focus split. It had gone on long enough though, with Erica and Isaac's strength Derek knew he could handle him. He waited until Scott leapt clear of his most recent assault and then Derek tackled the Alpha to the hard ground, claws at his throat. "Tell me what your problem is!"

"I already told you- you tried to steal my Beta!"

"There's more to it than that. From what I've heard, the Alpha's don't regularly check in on their Betas. Why did you come find Boyd?"

"Boyd?" the Alpha scoffed. "Really, you still go by your last name? Wow."

Derek snarled and squeezed his throat a bit, "Your attention is on me! Now answer!"

"Lately my Pack has been shrinking, other Alphas moving in and convincing them to leave, some transferring to other routes, other Alphas in the company. I won't lose what remaining Betas I have left!"

Boyd spoke up then, scowl on his face, "Have you ever stopped to think maybe we're all leaving because you're a tyrant? Why else do you think I go the maximum amount of time in between my check-ins with you? I've been thinking about reporting you for awhile now but I always felt like it wasn't right. Now I know better!"

The Alpha snarled and struggled against Derek but Scott and Erica were each holding down one of his arms and he couldn't get any leverage. He snarled at Boyd, putting as much force behind it as he could to cow his Beta. Boyd whimpered and closed his eyes, hands shaking as he fought the order to submit.

"No! I won't let you bully me anymore!" he yelled, flashing his amber eyes at his Alpha. Then, just like that, Boyd severed his Pack ties. "I'm done. I'll make my own way back to the company to drop off Callie and the supplies."

"What do we do with him though? We can't just let him go!" Scott argued, glaring at the Alpha on the ground.

"No, I agree. Let's take him to the Outpost, they'll know what to do with him."

"You're going to have me arrested?!

"Yes, because you broke the law. As an Alpha, you are not allowed to use your position to assert yourself over others in a manner that overrides their free will. And we all just witnessed you trying to force Boyd to submit to you when he clearly did not want to."

"Humans don't have to right to enforce laws over our species! Alphas are allowed to dictate what is right and wrong for their Pack! Alphas command obedience!"

"No, Alphas earn the respect of their Betas! That's how Packs are supposed to work! Trust and respect! Our influence only developed so we could break up fights that were spiraling out of control, or help a new Beta that's shifting uncontrollably so they don't hurt anyone. It was never about making your underlings do whatever the hell you wanted! Most Alphas understood that and that's why we agreed to uphold the laws when the Humans proposed it. They asked us what it was about when they made new rules governing other species! Now are you going to come peacefully or do we need to restrain you?!"

"Fuck you!"

Derek scowled and cracked the Alpha's jaw with a powerful punch, knocking him out. "Scott, go see if Deaton or Melissa have any Wolfsbane rope. If we bind his wrists with it he won't be able to break free and we can escort him down south. I'll keep an eye on him, Erica, Isaac can you go and pack up our belongings? Looks like we're leaving a little early."

"I… yea sure," Isaac mumbled, him and Stiles having caught up. He didn't want to leave! Derek said they could stay here awhile!

"Wait, you're taking him to the Mohave Outpost right? Down past Primm?" Stiles asked.

"Yea, that's the one, why?"

Stiles smiled, "Scott and I need to head down that way… we're supposed to help Primm find a new sheriff… that bastard deputy has information on Peter but he won't tell us where he went unless we help. We were going to get Meyers, some guy in the correctional facility but a fight broke out and now he's dead… so we'll have to ask the NCR if they'll help. We already spoke with Lieutenant Stilinski and he said we'd have to talk with… Major Knight? Yea, pretty sure…" Stiles looked at his Pip-boy, double checking the note he wrote down. "I mean… we can all travel together right? Better moving in numbers if… no maybe not, I'm kinda slow right now, I'd be more of a hassle for you guys."

"That's not a problem, right?" Isaac whimpered. He wanted to travel with Stiles and Scott, spend more time with both of them.

"No, I don't mind moving slow, as long as this guy doesn't give us any trouble. Better go get packing though, he won't stay out of it for long."

"Okay, Scott, can you grab out bags while you're getting the rope- and please be careful handling it… It would take me forever to head back that way so I'll just stay here with Derek," Stiles offered, carefully sitting down on a boulder. "Go on and help Erica, I'll be fine now," he told Isaac, noticing that the Beta was hovering.

As the three Weres jogged back into town, Boyd looked over at the two still with him. "I… thank you. This is twice now that you've stepped in for me in times of trouble; twice that you've done something you weren't obligated to do. You're a good Alpha Derek. And you too Stiles, you are a good Human- I've never seen you treat us as anything other than friends, it is very refreshing to see. Not many people decide to challenge an Alpha, especially when it concerns intraPack issues, let alone a Human that's willing to tag along. But I was listening… None of you even hesitated to follow us, looking out for my wellbeing. We've only known each other for a little while now but already you've made me feel more like Pack than he ever did. He did it for a job, you do it because you want to. I, Derek… can I be your third Beta?" Boyd asked, flashing his eyes at Derek.

"I…" Derek was surprised and touched by Boyd's words. Of course he wasn't going to stand by as some Humans attacked the Were, nor was he going to let this Alpha bully his Betas. That just wasn't the kind of person Derek was. And he hadn't done it because he was hoping Boyd would join him, regardless of what the passed out Alpha may have thought. "Are you sure? I'm new to this whole Alpha thing… just ask Isaac and Erica. Hell, Isaac ended up all alone his first full moon because I couldn't keep track of him and then you had to step in and watch Erica for me… total disaster."

Boyd chuckled, "It all turned out okay, no one got killed. Stiles got hurt a bit but he was just trying to protect the workers at Sloan. Erica did just fine, and all three of you are even closer now despite it feeling like a disaster. I think it just goes to show that you're all willing to work together. Erica wasn't pouting that she couldn't be with you, she was just as worried about Isaac as you were. You might feel like the night went badly but it showed me how much you care about the Betas under you, my Alpha never would have done anything like that for either Erica or Isaac. I'm sure."

"Alright then, I'd love to have you as my third Beta," Derek said, red eyes glowing as he accepted Boyd officially. "At least I'll have a more experienced Beta with me, help me teach Erica and Isaac. Scott too, I know he said he was willing to help. He's a very skilled Were, considering he's Bitten and has had to learn it all on his own."

"Not all on his own!" Stiles pouted. "He's had me! We're Pack!"

Derek held up a hand, offering Stiles a small smile. "I meant no offense, I just meant that he never had an Alpha around to teach him, no other Wolves. It's hard, look at Erica, she's Bitten, this was her fourth full moon and she only just now found a solid Anchor. I'm from a long line of Weres so things were a lot different for me. I grew up with all sorts of knowledge and power, I have no idea what it's like to try and struggle with your inner Wolf as a teenager when I've had mine my whole life. How long did you say he's been a Were?"

"About 6 years now. It took us awhile to learn all that we know, but we worked hard and it shows. Scott has perfect control, although I'm sure there is a lot we can both still learn. Thank you, by the way, for your kind words Boyd. I'm all about treating people as their character demands, don't based on their species or appearance. Although I do have a question, what exactly did this dummy here mean when he made that comment about last names?"

"As you probably heard in the bar, his name is Vernon; Vernon is my name as well. But I never really liked this guy, and it was always a bit confusing when people would talk about one of us since we never knew right away which Vernon they were talking about. So I offered to start going by Boyd, it fixed the problem and also secretly helped me feel… less like him. So people have been calling me Boyd for a long time, a lot of people at the compound as well. But he's always known why I really picked the nickname, made it a point to call me by my first name all the time."

"Oh, well I mean, that totally makes sense, I'd want to go by a different name too if I had the same name as him. Didn't mean to pry, I have a habit of asking questions, sometimes of a more personal nature. I'm just extremely curious by nature… please feel free to just tell me to butt out if you don't feel like answering, I won't be offended. Well… I might be a little miffed but I'll totally understand and won't push the issue."

"Yea, he's not kidding. If he has something he's intrigued with, he'll stop at nothing to get an answer, beware," Scott called out. He had both packs with him and was gingerly holding out a coiled rope in his hands. Thankfully he'd dug out their pair of gloves so he wasn't in direct contact with the Wolfsbane, but his eyes were still glowing at the proximity.

"Yea I mean, I've been itching to ask about the fire but- shit! Dammit Scott!"

Derek bristled of course, hating himself for the outburst when they'd first encountered each other on the road. He was thankful enough that his Betas were observant enough to keep their questions to themselves, let alone a stranger like Stiles. Of course he was curious though, everyone was always curious about the 'monsters' that finally met their fate.

Stiles looked down at his hands, "I wasn't going to ask, honest. I mean, it's been on my mind a lot, because of what you said about your uncle… I mean, obviously the guy we met wasn't dead… and you say he seems a lot like your uncle. I just want to get to the bottom of it, because if he is your uncle, maybe you could help us find him. I know you said everyone died though so obviously you'd like never want to talk about it… ever. Scott and I both know what it's like to lose family. Seriously, don't ever feel like you owe me an explanation just because I blurted that out just now…"

"I know I don't owe you anything," Derek barked out. He took a breath, Stiles didn't deserve the attitude, he wasn't looking for a gory story for kicks like all the others. The boy was telling the truth when he said he was looking for any answers concerning Peter. "I just… yes, it is hard to think about, too painful to talk about. Let's just get on the road, shall we?" He held his hand out for the rope, quickly binding the Alpha's wrists together.

"Looks like we're just in time then," Erica commented, holding Derek's pack out for him.

"We stopped by to explain the situation to Melissa, didn't want to just leave without letting her know," Isaac explained.

"Oh yea, good thinking!" Stiles said, smiling at Isaac. "I was so focused on getting this dirtbag in a cell, I didn't really think about the others worrying about our sudden disappearance."

"Depending on how slow we take it, we can stop at Primm for a break- it's about halfway between here and the Outpost. Although the Outpost is always open so we can keep pushing on into the night if no one needs the sleep."

"I'll let you know how I'm feeling when we get there. I know I'm the weak link here, since I'm the Human with the injury. I should be fine with a constant, slow pace though. Hell, Scott and I are used to life on the road, we have a lot of stamina. Although, I might need rest once we get to the Outpost…"

Satisfied that everyone was ready to go, Derek hefted the Alpha to his feet and shook him awake. Of course Vernon grumbled and struggled but Derek made it clear that if he wasn't going to cooperate and walk, they'd drag him. So he marched in front of them, wrists behind his back, muttering to himself the whole way. They kept a slow pace, one that Stiles could easily keep up with; after awhile though, Isaac offered to carry Stiles. He declined at first, not wanting to be a drain on Isaac's energy but the Were was adamant that with the slow pace, he wouldn't be pressed for energy. And it wasn't like Isaac was carrying a bag yet anyways, they still hadn't found one for him. So Stiles carefully hopped onto Isaac's back and rested, taking a moment to find a comfortable position for his stitches. The rest of the walk was filled with some stories from Erica and Isaac, telling the group about their life. They weren't really exciting stories, but it helped them feel like they were bonding with their Pack, and it meant that Derek didn't have to worry about telling his own story.

They passed through Primm, Stiles not needing to lie down since he'd been carried for most of the way. So they continued on, Stiles eventually hopping back down onto his feet as the sun started to set.

"I'm still okay…" Isaac offered. He loved being able to help Stiles, provide some sort of comfort for him while he was injured.

"I feel like such a freeloader! I promise I can walk. Besides… it's the steep incline up to the Outpost that will kill me… Save your strength for that," he joked. He was fine to walk for a few hours, although he probably would need help up to the Outpost… they'd deal with that when they got there.

"Humans are such weaklings," Vernon muttered to himself. Up until this point, he'd been content to just ignore the lot of them, pissed that he'd been caught by them.

Isaac snarled at him, "Don't you talk about him like that! Those Deathclaws probably would have killed you! Stiles made it out alive."

"Deathclaws? Well now he's just stupid! No one touches Deathclaws, period."

"Just shut up and keep moving," Derek prompted. Any Alpha that shunned Humans usually didn't create a strong Pack. Humans were an integral part of a Pack, the ones that stopped them from being brutal, they were the voices of reason because they were never, ever in conflict with an inner Wolf.

Satisfied that he'd keep his comments to himself, Scott started sharing his stories next. He started with how he and Stiles had met when they were 4. They had bonded instantly, becoming inseparable, becoming brothers. He explained that their parents (Scott's mom and Stiles's dad) eventually married, both being widows. It was probably because they both had boundless energy and not a lot of room to explore that the two of them started getting into trouble. They often snuck out of the Vault to go on adventures and that was how they'd ran into Peter one night. They were 11 and hadn't gotten a good look at the thing that attacked them.

"He wasn't… Human, like it was more than he had ears and a tail, he wasn't shaped right," Scott said, still able to picture that night so clearly. Peter had been in the shadows, so they never really saw his face, but they saw his outline and knew that he wasn't strictly Human. "He kicked Stiles aside easily, although I still don't quite understand why he only Bit me… He told us, that night before he shot Stiles, it was because he knew I had potential. But we were both 11, how could he know that about either of us?"

"6 years ago right? That… that must have been right after Peter stole his Alpha powers. We were fighting another Pack and Mom, our Alpha, Peter's sister, said that we were only to disable, not kill. But Peter went straight for their Alpha and took him down. The fight ended quickly after that, all the Betas surrendering and Peter rubbed it in Mom's face that he knew better battle tactics than her. I guess I'm not really surprised that the first thing he did was try to create some Betas without Mom's approval. I can't say for certain why he might have picked Scott and not Stiles, and not just Bitten both of you…It might be because of your builds, that's the only thing I can think of. Stiles is a lot lankier than you Scott, Peter might have seen that as potential for less muscle growth."

"I guess," Scott shrugged. "Anyways, Stiles carried me back to the Vault and explained everything to our parents. It didn't take long for us to figure out what I'd become and almost everyone else in the Vault shunned me. It was because of that that we left… We weren't exactly kicked out but we weren't welcome either. Our… our parents didn't last long out here… we were all alone by the time my first full moon came around-"

"Stiles was the only one around to try and keep you under control?" Erica asked in complete disbelief. She couldn't bring herself to ask how their parents had died...

"Yea, we found this old bunker and locked Scott inside. I was right there the whole time though, both of us absolutely terrified of what would happen to him. I kept talking to him after the bloodlust kicked in, calling out his name, telling him who I was. Eventually he stopped trying to tear at the door and calmed down. As soon as I opened the door he tackled me and started sniffing me. Couldn't get him off me the rest of the night."

"Yea, it was like… at first my Wolf had no idea what was going on at all. I had all this energy and I needed to run, hunt, just howl. And this person on the other side of the door was stopping me, so I was mad. But eventually, his words got through to me, I don't know how… my Wolf just stopped and listened after awhile. All the memories of our life together flooded my memory and then my Wolf just did a complete 180- went from wanting to maim the person that was in my way, to wanting to cuddle Stiles and keep him safe. My second full moon pretty much went the same way although it didn't take as long for me to come to my senses. I had enough control by my third though that Stiles could stay in the room with me."

"That's pretty impressive," Derek admitted. It couldn't have been easy for two young boys, who'd just recently lost their parents, to go through a full moon together like that. No wonder they had such a strong bond, it wasn't just because they were Pack. In fact, they were Pack because they were family first. He'd heard them refer to each other all the time as brothers, but Derek had assumed that the "family" came after Pack, that they'd teamed up together at some point, Scott accepting this Human as Pack and then they got closer. But they were family long before he'd been turned, it was starting to make a little more sense now, how Stiles had learned so much about Weres and Pack.

The boys shared a few more experiences and before they knew it, they were at the bottom of the hill, Stiles sighing heavily. "Really, I might just wait here… Scott can go talk to Major Knight for us…"

"But you're better at… negotiating than I am…"

Isaac was eyeing the incline, wondering if he had enough balance to actually carry Stiles up there when Derek handed to rope to Scott.

"I'll do it, just don't… make a big deal about it…" he grumbled. He knew there was no way Isaac would be able to walk up there with 100-some-odd pounds on his back.

"I- no yea, thanks," Stiles mumbled. He hopped up and cleared his throat, adamant about just keeping his mouth shut so he didn't talk Derek's ear off. He didn't want to get dumped back on the ground, so best to just stay quiet before he ended up making it awkward. With Derek carrying Stiles, the group made it up to the top in no time, the Outpost still bustling with activity. Time to get down to business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm keeping Stiles and Scott's parents like in the show, two single parents, one dad, one mom. Although obviously they weren't Melissa and the Sheriff since those characters are in the story in a different way. I knew that Scott and Stiles's parents weren't going to be in-depth characters in this story but of course I love Melissa and the Sheriff so I gave them more permanent roles as Trudy and the Lieutenant/Sheriff of Primm. Hope that didn't confuse anyone XD


End file.
